I Was A Teenage Jenny
by Count Morningstar
Summary: Rachel Jenny does everything she possibly can to rebel against her destiny, from cutting classes to participating in shady Pokemon tournaments. But no matter what she does, she cannot escape the face in the mirror, or the expectations that come with it. But when she meets the son of Giovanni, she finds a way to escape her destiny at last. Rated M for blood and some other things.
1. A Day In the Life of Rachel Jenny

**Introduction:** In addition to working on _Best Wishes Revised_, I've decided to work on a few other stories as well, due to the length of story. And I decided to go ahead and start by working on this little Pokemon story that I got the idea for a few months ago. One reason being that it helps up the sequel to _Best Wishes Revised_. Anyway, one of the oddest things in the Pokemon anime are families of Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy, and recently the Don George family in the Black and White anime. Of course I won't be touching the Don George thing in either this story or _BWR_ because that battle club stuff is pretty much filler.

There have been several theories among the fans about this phenomenon. I think it's either alines, cloning, or some odd genetic condition. And one thing I noticed one time when I went to go look for fanfics about Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy is that there were quite a few stories about how much it sucks that they all have the same face and all seem to be forced to work the same job. But I also noticed that most of those stories tended to be about Nurse Joy instead of Officer Jenny. So I'm going to fix that a little bit.

Now, a couple of things to keep in mind before I go on. The first is that the events in this story takes place around the same time those in as _Best Wishes Revised_. Though you do not have to read that story to understand what's going in this one. The other thing I should mention is that the reason for this stories M rating is due to a fairly bloody scene that's going to appear in a later chapter. And for a few other things. All that said, I'll shut up and let you get on with the story.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Chapter 1: A Day In the Life of Rachel Jenny

Rachel Curtis Jenny awoke to the annoying sound of the alarm clock on her nightstand. After shutting off the infernal device she sat up in bed and sighed. It was once again time to begin another horrid day. After a moment she finally got out of bed and walked to her bathroom. When Rachel turned on the light, the same face greeted her in the mirror, and she sighed again heavily upon seeing it.

A part of Rachel had hoped that perhaps her appearance had miraculously changed overnight, but as she expected she looked just the same as she did before. She still had the same almost shoulder-length blue-green hair and the same reddish-brown eyes, and her face looked the sane as it did before. Rachel hated seeing her face for the face Rachel saw every time she looked in the mirror was not her own. She shared it with her mother, her two sisters, her aunts, more cousins than she could count or remember, and every other woman in her extended family except for that odd branch in Unova. And it was a face that everyone in the regions of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and even Rachel's home region of Sinnoh knew as that of the police officer known as Officer Jenny.

Rachel could still remember back to kindergarten when the teacher asked the kids what they wanted to be when they grew up, and Rachel was the only one who wasn't asked. When Rachel asked the teacher why she didn't ask her that question, the teacher simply laughed and said that everyone knew that she was going to grow up to be a police officer. That assumption persisted throughout Rachel's life, all because of her face and what family she happened to be born into. It never even occurred to anyone that Rachel might want a life of her own, that she was an individual. And of course her family was far from an exception.

"Rachel!" a young female voice called from outside her bedroom room. Rachel sighed and went out to go answer.

Rachel opened the door and on the other side was a girl who looked exactly how Rachel looked when she was ten years old. This was Rachel's younger sister, Cindy Curtis Jenny.

"What is it twerp?" Rachel asked with a tired yet annoyed expression.

"Mom sent me up to get you for breakfast." Cindy explained. "She said she wants to have a talk with you before you go to school. Are you in trouble again?"

"…Fine, tell her I'll be down in a minute." Rachel sighed before retreating back into her room and closing the door behind her.

Within a few minutes, Rachel had changed into her school uniform, which consisted of a white shirt, black tie, a grey jacket and grey skirt that ended just above her knees. She then grabbed her backpack, which also contained the Pokeball of the only Pokemon she had, and headed downstairs. Before long, Rachel had reached the dining room of the house. Sitting at the head of the table was a woman who looked like an older version of Rachel. She was wearing a skirted police uniform that was mainly blue in color, though the front the shirt was light blue and the end of the short sleeves of the uniform were red. The woman was also wearing white gloves, and near her on the corner of the table was a blue police hat with a black visor. This woman of course was Rachel's mother, Officer Lenore Preston Jenny.

Sitting at the other end of the table reading a newspaper was a slim man with short brown hair wearing a black suit, red tie, and glasses. This man was Rachel's father, Harper Curtis, a somewhat famous district attorney. Rachel sat down on the left side of the table across from Cindy and began to eat her breakfast.

"We need to have a little talk, young lady." Lenore said to Rachel, causing her to pause from her meal. "I spoke with your teachers last night. They told me your grades have been slipping again."

"Oh god, are we going to talk about this now?" Rachel complained.

"Language, Rachel." Harper scolded, not once taking his eyes off his paper.

"I shouldn't have to remind you how important it is to keep your grades up." Lenore continued. "You're sixteen, and in two years it'll be time for you to attend the academy. You have a legacy to uphold."

"And here we go again!" Rachel interrupted. "The all important family legacy! I'm so damn sick of hearing this over and over again!"

"Language!" Harper scolded again, this time actually taking his eyes away from his paper.

"For untold years the women of our family have worked to uphold the law." Lenore continued. "And it is our duty to uphold that tradition."

"Oh god, I think I'm gonna hurl." Rachel said as she began rubbing her temples.

"Your behavior has continued to reflect poorly on our family!" Lenore carried on. "Your father and I have been told that it's not just your grades that have been a problem. We've been told that you've also been skipping classes. This is simply unacceptable."

"I'm outta here." Rachel said as she suddenly got up and began to head out of the room, leaving her breakfast unfinished.

"We're far from finished with this conversation young lady!" Lenore scolded as she stood up from her chair, causing Rachel to stop in her tracks.

"If I don't leave now. I'll be late for school." Rachel pointed out with a smirk, not once turning back to face Lenore. "We wouldn't want my grades to slip, would we?" Lenore looked like she was about to say something in response but did not.

"…Fine, but don't think for a moment that we're through with this matter." Lenore said as she picked up her hat and put it on. "I have to be on duty anyway. We'll pick this up again when you get home."

Rachel sighed before heading out of the dining room. She soon exited the house and shut the door behind her, leaning against it for a moment before continuing on to school. As she walked down the sidewalk, Rachel tried to put her mother's lecture out of her mind. Of course it had not been the first time Lenore had lectured Rachel about her grades and behavior during breakfast. Over the years it had become a sort of dark tradition, almost as time honored as women of her family joining the police force. Still, to Rachel each lecture felt like a drill that burrowed deeper and deeper into her skull with each one.

Rachel was snapped from her thoughts when she turned a corner and saw waiting for her a young woman about her age wearing the same school uniform with an arm full of books. She had reddish pink hair that curled slightly in front and had large looped pigtails. Next to her was a large pick egg-shaped Pokemon with stubby arms, large feet, hair-like extensions on the sides of what could be considered a head, and a pouch on its stomach containing a large white egg. The girl was Rachel's oldest friend, Hope Nightingale Joy, and the creature with her was her Pokemon, Chansey. Hope was a member of the well known Nurse Joy family, and like the Officer Jenny family, all the women in the Joy family looked alike and followed the same career path and became Pokemon Nurses.

"Hey Rachel." Hope greeted in an enthusiastic manner. "I thought I'd walk with you to school if that's okay."

"Whatever." Rachel replied as she continued on. Hope then began walking along side her with Chansey following close behind.

"You okay?" Hope asked, noticing Rachel's foul mood.

"Just the same old static from my mom." Rachel answered. "What's with all the books?"

"Oh, just getting an early start on studying to become a Pokemon Nurse." Hope explained. "Just two more years and I'll be going to nursing school you know." Hope's little reminder caused Rachel to stop walking.

"Hey Hope… you ever feel like you're trapped?" Rachel asked after a moment. "Like your life isn't your own?"

"What do you mean?" Hope asked.

"Oh c'mon, haven't you ever thought about becoming something other than a Pokemon Nurse?" Rachel asked.

"Well… I guess I have done that sometimes." Hope admitted. "But then I really do like helping sick Pokemon."

"But haven't you ever wanted to do something different than the rest of your family?" Rachel asked. "Haven't you ever wanted your own future?"

"I've never really thought there was anything wrong with following in my family's footsteps." Hope answered. "Especially considering the work they've done. What's this about Rachel?"

"Forget it! I should've known you wouldn't understand." Rachel said as she suddenly stormed off.

"Rachel, wait!" Hope called after her.

* * *

A few minutes later Rachel was at school putting her things in her locker. The whole time she kept thinking about her conversation with Hope. Rachel did consider Hope a close friend, but it often seemed like she was oblivious to how Rachel felt about her life. And it was ironic, considering that Hope was in the same situation. Rachel couldn't understand how Hope could not have the same feelings as she did. Just as Rachel finished putting things away in her locker and turned to walk down the hall, leaning against the lockers in front of her was a young woman with long brown hair and grey eyes. The tie of her uniform was undone and she had no jacket. Rachel knew this girl as her friend, Trisha Lang, perhaps the only normal person that saw Rachel as more than just another Officer Jenny to be.

"You would not believe the morning I've been having." Trisha told her.

"Oh yeah? Try me." Rachel dared. "Chances are it's a hell of a lot better than mine."

"Wanna cut homeroom and get a smoke then?" Trisha suggested.

"Hell yeah!" Rachel agreed.

Within a few more minutes, Rachel and Trisha were in the ladies room leaning against the counter. The room had been filled with smoke from the cigarettes that Trisha had smuggled in. They had spent almost half an hour smoking and talking about how much they hated their lives. Both of them had recounted to the other what had happened that morning in their lives, and Rachel had just finished telling Trisha about her morning lecture from her mother.

"…Damn, I got the same kinda lecture from my dad this morning, but yours sounds way worse." Trisha commented after Rachel had finished speaking.

"So does that mean I win again?" Rachel joked.

"Yeah, I sometimes forget about the shit you have to put up with." Trisha replied. "You'd think your parents would cut you a little slack. I mean isn't your older sister already carrying on the family tradidtion?"

"What, you mean my air headed older sister Lenore C. Jenny, better known as Lenore Jenny the fifth?" Rachel said with a sarcastic laugh. "Yeah, she graduates from the academy next year. But of course that's not enough. My family and the rest of the world all expect me to join the police force like a good little Officer Jenny."

"You know before I met you and your friend, Plain Jane Joy, I never realized just how messed up the whole Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy thing is." Trisha remarked. "I've been to a few other cities and seen a few other members of this family of yours, and besides you they all seem to act alike. It's the same with the Nurse Joys."

"It's true, not many people outside of our family can tell us apart, and it's not just because we look alike." Rachel agreed. "A lot of my family members all have such similar personalities I don't even know why we have first names. We might as well just have numbers. It's like we're all supposed to be the same person. And it's a little worse for me because I come from a pretty famous branch of the family. My great-great grandmother, Lenore Jenny the first, single handedly broke apart a giant Pokemon smuggling ring, so I have to live up to that great reputation and be the best damn mindless drone I can be…. Sometimes I just feel so suffocated I could scream."

"You know what you need?" Trisha began to suggest as she put out her cigarette. "You need to let off a little steam. You still have that Pokmeon you got from Old Man Oak when he visited this city, right?"

"You mean my Charmeleon, Scorch?" Rachel answered. "Of course I still have him. Besides you and Hope, he's the only friend I've got. Though if my mother had her way I'd have a Growlithe, the traditional partner for a Jenny."

"But you've had Pokemon battles with Scorch, right?" Trisha asked.

"Duh, otherwise he wouldn't have evolved from a Charmander." Rachel pointed out. "Why are you asking me all this?"

"Look, tonight at this place I sometimes go to there gonna be this underground Pokemon Cage Tournament." Trisha explained.

"Cage Tournament?" Rachel repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, it's intense. They make the trainers wear shock collars so they get shocked each time their Pokemon gets hit." Trisha replied. "The shocks get a little more intense in the later rounds, course I kinda like the shocks myself. Anyway, they say that this guy called Silver is going to be there. He's supposed to be this badass trainer. I think he's from Kanto of Johto, I don't remember. But I was thinking we could go there tonight and enter. What do you say?"

Before Rachel could answer, the door to the restroom opened and in walked a sour-looking boney old woman with grey hair done up in a bun wearing horn-rimed glasses and a black business dress. The old woman was the head mistress of the school, and she was not at all happy to see Rachel and Trisha smoking.

"What is going on here?" the head mistress exclaimed. "I am appalled, absolutely appalled! You two know perfectly well that smoking is against school rules. I'm very disappointed in both of you, but you especially Ms. Jenny! I would never in a million years expect someone from your family to behave in such a way! To my office now, both of you! And rest assured, your parents will be hearing about this!"

* * *

After being discovered by the head mistress, both Rachel and Trisha were given heavy detention for the next month and a half. And of course when Rachel got home she had received an even worse lecture from her parents when she got home. When it finally ended after two hours, Rachel was grounded and promptly sent to her room. As she did her homework, Rachel suddenly heard a bang against the outside of her window. She got up to investigate and found a ladder had been put up against the side of the house. Rachel knew that this could only be the work of one person. She opened the window and sure enough, Trisha had come up the ladder.

"Hey there, so how bad was it?" Trisha asked.

"They grounded me for five months." Rachel revealed.

"No way! I was only grounded for two months this time!" Trisha told her. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I would not want to switch lives with you."

"I'd think you'd be crazy if you did." Rachel joked. "So why have you climbed up here this time?"

"I came to see if you wanted to go to the cage tournament with me." Trisha explained. "You interested?"

"…Oh what the hell? Why not?" Rachel replied after a moment.

"Great! We better get going then." Trisha told her. "You should probably cover that face of yours though. I mean I obviously don't mind it, but the face of law enforcement showing up at this thing would probably make people nervous."

"No problem, give me a minute." Rachel replied.

Within moments Rachel had changed into a grey hooded sweatshirt and worn denim jeans. She also wore a grey stocking over the lower half of her face. After retrieving the Pokeball of her only Pokemon, she followed Trisha down the ladder and the two were off.

* * *

**Author's Note:** The original title of this story was going to be, The Face She Hated. An apt title, but I felt it was a little too Lifetime Original Movie sounding. Then this morning I came up with the title this story has now. I hesitated on using it a little though because I thought it made light of this story, which is going to be fairly dark. But I decided to go with it anyway.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	2. The Silver and the Frost

**Author's Note:** I had intended to get this chapter up yesterday, but some personal stuff suddenly came up and I had to delay. Heck, I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to get this chapter up today because of the length of this chapter. There are three Pokemon battles in this chapter though, so I'm not surprised that it's a little long.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Chapter 2: The Silver and the Frost

Several minutes had passed since Rachel had snuck out of the house with Trisha. After a quick bus ride through the city the two girls had arrived at one of the shadier parts of the city. The city of Brightville where Rachel and Trisha lived, though small, was one of the most pristine cities in the Sinnoh Region. But like many cities, Brightville had its own dark side, a secret underworld where the scum of the city gathered together, and like most underworlds, Brightville's was most active at night. Rachel was quite fascinated with this dark part of the city, as it was her first time there. She of course couldn't help feel but out of place, and it of course didn't help that she had to hide her face. Though Rachel could tell that Trisha seemed to blend right in wearing her black leather jacket, yellow low-cut shirt, short pink skirt, and what even Rachel considered to be a tad too much makeup.

After passing down a few alleys, Trisha led Rachel down a graffiti-covered staircase to a long abandoned subway terminal. The terminal itself was uninhabited, save for an old homeless man keeping warm by a steel barrel full of fire. In moments, Rachel and Trisha were both walking along the tracks down the old subway tunnel.

"How much further to this tournament?" Rachel asked with a hint of impatience in her voice.

"Relax Rachel, we'll be there real soon." Trisha assured her. "Now, they're going to ask for our names when we enter the tournament. If I were you, I would not give them my real name, or at least not my real last name."

"Don't worry, I wasn't planning on it." Rachel told her.

Several more minutes passed, and before long Rachel and Trisha came to a small metal door on the right wall of the tunnel. Trisha opened the door and the two went in. Behind the door was a fairly small brick room with another metal door on the right corner of the rear wall. Loud thumping music could be heard behind that door, and under the crack there were flashing multicolored lights. Also in the small room behind a simple folding table was a large well-muscled man with a shaved head and wearing a black leather vest that exposed his bare chest, which had a very pronounced tattoo of a Gyarados.

Standing just right of this table in front of a rack with black metal collars on it was another more slender man with a purple Mohawk wearing a grey tank top, black fingerless gloves, black pants and boots. The man's arms were completely covered in black tattoos, and in his nose was a gold-colored ring. Rachel followed Trisha up to the table.

"Name." the bald man at the table requested.

"Trisha Lightning." Trisha told him. The bald man wrote Trisha's name down on a clipboard. At the same time, the man with the Mohawk locked one of the metal collars around Trisha's neck.

"You'll get that collar off when the tournament's over." The bald man said.

"I know that, this isn't my first cage tournament you know." Trisha informed him.

"I was tellin' your friend there." The bald man clarified. "Now get in and wait for the tournament to start."

"Meet you inside." Trisha said to Rachel before heading through the next door, which the man with the Mowhawk had opened for her.

"Name." the bald man requested Rachel.

"Rachel Curtis." Rachel told him, leaving off her last name.

As the bald man wrote down Rachel's name on the clipboard, the man with the Mowhawk locked on of the black metal collars around her neck. Rachel could feel the cold steel through the stocking she had put on to hide her face. With her collar locked in place, the man with the Mowhawk opened the door for her, fully revealing the flashing lights on the other side. Rachel went through and found Trisha waiting for her on the other side. All around them was a tightly packed crowed of people moving spastically to the loud techno thumping of the music.

"Is the a tournament or a rave?" Rachel asked over the loud music.

"This is just the party before the tournament!" Trisha answered loudly. "C'mon, I'll show you the arena!"

The two girls moved as best they could through the throbbing mass of people towards the center of the large room. As got closer to the center the music seemed to get a little quieter. Eventually they came to a large platform in the center of the chamber. The two went up the steps and found several bleachers surrounding an arena inside a chain-link fence style cage.

"You know I thought you were kidding when you said this was a cage tournament." Rachel admitted.

"Well, well, I got word that you were here Trish." A male voice spoke from behind. Rachel and Trisha turned around to see a young man in his early twenties red sunglasses, a purple ski cap, a black hooded sweatshirt with a white skull on the front, and grey baggy pants.

"Hey Caster." Trisha greeted with a smirk. "Sorry I haven't been in the last couple tournaments. Parents, you know?"

"Hey, no sweat." Caster assured her. "You didn't miss much anyway. The competition in the last tournaments has been pretty weak. I see you brought a masked friend with you."

"Oh yeah, this is my friend, Rachel." Trisha explained. "Rachel, meet Caster Dice, the guy who runs and hosts the cage tournaments here in Sinnoh."

"Nice to meet you." Rachel greeted somewhat nervously.

"Charmed to meet you as well." Caster greeted back. "Any friend of Trish is a friend of mine."

"So Caster, are the rumors true?" Trisha asked. "Is he really here?"

"You mean Silver?" Caster replied. "He's here alright. In fact he's the reason why we have such a big crowd tonight."

"Who is this Silver guy?" Rachel asked Caster. "I mean Trish mentioned him to me before, but I don't know that much about him."

"Hey don't worry, nobody does." Caster assured her. "The guy's a total mystery. That's one of the reasons why he's such a big draw. All anyone really knows about the guy is that he's either from Johto or Kanto. But whoever he is, he's super powerful. Oh yeah, I should also mention that the Ice Queen is here too."

"No way! You mean Tessa Frost?" Trisha asked.

"The one and only." Caster confirmed.

"Okay, who's Tessa Frost?" Rachel asked.

"You really are new to this, aren't you?" Caster observed. "Tessa Frost is a trainer who's about as mysterious as Silver and almost as powerful. The only person who's ever beaten her is Silver himself. Well, it's almost time to get this party stared, so I should get ready. Good luck to you both."

About fifteen minutes later, the bleachers around the stadium were packed to the roof. Rachel and Trisha were waiting in a sort of dugout with other competitors waiting to be called up to battle. The whole time Rachel kept wondering which of the other competitors was the mysterious Sliver she had been hearing about. Before long the stadium crowd began to cheer as Caster walked into the middle of the stadium with a microphone.

"Welcome one and all to another to the twenty-fifth Brightville Cage Match Tournament!" Caster said into the microphone, causing the crowd to cheer in response. "We have a real good set of competitors for tonight's tournament. But before we get down to business I better explain the rules to both the first time fans and the newbie's. Now, the first thing everyone needs to know is that these are one-on-one battles, which means if you lose even on time, you're out. Now to you rookies in the stands, you might've noticed that we gave you some special jewelry when you entered. Those are shock collars, and they'll give you a little jolt each time your Pokemon takes a hit, and the bigger the damage, the bigger the shock. Just think of this tournament as a totally immersive experience. Oh, and before I forget, the juice from the collars will go up further into the tournament, that is if you make it that far.

"Okay, so now that I've covered the rules, let's get this party started! Our first contestant is new to this scene, so please give a warm cage tournament welcome to the mysterious Rachel Curtis!"

The crowd cheered as Rachel nervously walked into the caged arena. She jumped a little when she heard the door slammed shut behind her.

"Now for our second contestant." Caster announced. "Coming back all the way from the Kanto Region to compete in his sixth cage match tournament, please welcome Clubber Menendez!"

The crowed cheered again as Rachel's opponent walked on stage. He was a large muscular man with tan skin and long black hair tied back into a braded ponytail. He stood at about seven feet and looked to be in his mid twenties. In addition to the black shock collar around his neck, Clubber wore a brown leather vest and olive-green tank top along with two brown leather armbands on his upper arms, grey jeans, and black combat boots.

"What's with that mask girlie? Your face too ugly to show?" Clubber taunted with an arrogant sneer.

"No where near as ugly as yours." Rachel fired back with a confident tone. "I bet when you were born the doctor had trouble telling which end was your face and which was your ass."

"What? Why you smart mouthed little…!" Clubber began to curse.

"Whoa! Okay, let's save that for the actually fight." Caster quickly interrupted. "Let the battle… begin!"

"Go Scorch!" Rachel called as she threw out a Pokeball.

Emerging from the thrown ball with a sparkling flash was a golden-yellow bipedal lizard that stood about three feet tall. It had well developed arms and claws, and on the back of the top of its head was a small bump almost like a spike. Burning on the tip of its tail was a bright red flame.

"A shiny Charmeleon, huh?" Clubber said looking unimpressed. "I'll give ya credit for having such a rare Pokemon, but it doesn't stand a chance against my Pokemon. Go Marowak!"

Emerging from Clubber's thrown Pokeball was a brown almost reptilian creature that stood about as tall as Scorch. Its chest and underside were light brown, and its head was a white animal skull with a long snout and two tiny horns on the side. In its right hand, Marowak carried a long bone.

"Uh oh, looks like our dear Rachel Curtis is already in trouble." Caster commented into his microphone as he watched from inside a small booth outside of the cage. "As I'm sure everyone knows, Ground-types like Marowak have a huge advantage against Fire Pokemon like our shiny Charmeleon, Scorch."

"Okay Scorch, let's open with Dragon Dance!" Rachel commanded.

Scorch spread its feet slightly and then crossed its forearms together. A moment later it pulled its arms in and gave the air a one-two punch. Scorch then cried out and began to glow with a blue aura.

"Well, it looks like this Charmeleon's full of surprises." Caster commented. "For those of you who don't know, Dragon Dance is a move that increased the speed and attack power of the Pokemon that uses it. And against Clubber's Marowak, Scorch is gonna need all the power it can get."

"Hah! Your Pokemon's little dance moves don't scare me a bit." Clubber sneered. "Marowak, pound that weakling into the ground with Bone Club!"

"Dodge and use Dragon Claw!" Rachel commanded.

Marowak leapt high into the air at Scorch with its club held high. But just as it was about to swing its bone down, Scorch ran out of the way with blinding speed, causing Marowak to slam its weapon into the ground and split it open. As Marowak looked around to try and figure out where Scorch went, Scorch ran at Marowak from behind and scratched the bone keeper across the back with glowing blue claws. Marowak cried out in pain upon being hit, and at the same time Clubber convulsed from being shocked by the black metal collar around his neck.

"Damn! It looks like this match isn't as one-sided as we thought." Caster commented. "Or maybe I should say that the winner of this match isn't going to be who we thought. I'm not sure of Marowak can recover from this."

"We've got 'em where we want 'em! Use Fire Fang!" Rachel commanded.

Fire began to flash inside Scorch's mouth. Still behind Marowak, it grabbed the bone keeper from behind and bit it on the shoulder. Marowak cried out in pain and at the same time so did Clubber from the electrical shock of his collar. When it was over, Marowak was out cold and Clubber fell to the ground unconscious.

"Well, looks like Clubber and his Marowak are out of this tournament." Caster observed. "Our first winner of round one is our mysterious masked girl, Rachel Curtis!"

The crowd cheered loudly as Rachel called Scorch back to its Pokeball. The cage door behind Rachel opened, allowing her to exit. As she walked out, Rachel found that for the first time she could remember she felt that life didn't suck.

* * *

The tournament went on, and after several battles what started out as a tournament with sixteen competitors had gone down to only four. Both Rachel and Trisha had managed to stay in, even though both of them had taken a few hits. With the semifinal round about to begin, Caster took the stage.

"Okay, we've had one hell of a tournament so far tonight, but the real show has yet to start." Caster announced. "To kick off our semifinal round, please welcome back to the cage one of your favorite competitors and mine, the beautiful Trisha Lightning!"

The crowd cheered loudly as Trisha entered the arena. She blew the spectators a kiss before standing ready to face her opponent.

"Alight, as for our Ms. Trisha's opponent, I think we all know her as one of the strongest competitors in the history of the cage match tournaments." Caster announced. "Please welcome back the Unbreakable Ice Queen, Tessa Frost!"

The crowd cheered even louder than before as Trisha's opponent took the stage. She was a young woman who looked to be about Rachel and Trisha's age with long stark white hair, very pale white skin, and icy blue eyes. Aside from her shock collar she was wearing a buttoned-up ice-blue jacket lined with white fur, a short white fur-lined ice-blue skirt, skin-tight ice-blue pants, white earmuffs, and white boots and gloves. A cold almost emotionless expression was on the girl's face.

"So you're the Unbreakable Ice Queen." Trisha said with a smirk. "Don't you think it's a little warm for that outfit?"

"You will lose." Tessa replied coldly.

"And let the battle… begin!" Caster announced before quickly retreating to his booth.

"Go Sealeo." Tessa commanded as she threw out a Pokeball.

Emerging from the ball was a good-sized blue walrus-like creature. It has a bushy white mustache and short white tusks growing from its upper jaw. The front of its neck and chest were beige-colored.

"Get ready to finally get broken Ice Queen!" Trisha said as she threw out her own Pokeball. "Go Electabuzz!"

Emerging from Trisha's Pokeball was a three-foot tall somewhat humanoid creature with a face like an oni or cat. It had a long tail and was covered in yellow fur with black stripes like a tiger. On its chest was a large black stripe in the shape of a lightning bolt. On its head were short horns that resembled antenna.

"An Electric-type to face a Water-type, how predictable." Tessa noted. "Attack with Aurora Beam."

Sealeo shot a beam of multicolored light from its mouth that hit Electabuzz in the chest. The electric beast cried out, and at the same time Trisha convulsed from the powerful electric shock from her collar. When it ended though, a rather twisted smile was on Trisha's face.

"Oh yeah! This is what I'm talking about!" Trisha cried with a rather crazed laugh. "Okay Electabuzz, hit that blimp with Thunder Punch!"

Electabuzz charged forward at incredible speed with its right fist raised and crackling with electricity. It punched Sealeo right in the chest with enough force to knock it back almost a foot. A look of what could only be described as surprise appeared on Tessa's face as her collar shocked her.

"Okay, follow up with Low Kick!" Trisha commanded. Electabuzz charged up again and hit Sealeo with a powerful kick strong enough to send it into the air. "Zap it with Thunder Bolt!"

Electabuzz flexed its arms and fired a bolt of yellow electricity that hit Sealeo before the sea lion Pokemon hit the ground. At the same time Tessa's collar once again shocked her. After a moment Sealeo hit the ground with a thud and seemed to be having a little trouble moving.

"Oh boy, I think Sealeo might actually be paralyzed." Caster observed. "That happens sometimes when Thunder Bolt is used. Looks like we might be seeing the Ice Queen break to someone other than Silver."

"Let's wrap this up with another Thunder Punch!" Trisha commanded.

"Use Blizzard." Tessa ordered.

Just as Electabuzz charged forward to deliver another electrified punch, Sealeo suddenly raised its head and breathed out a storm of storm and ice. Electabuzz was stopped in its tracks as the storm hit it, and at the same time Trisha cried out, as she was shocked yet again by her collar. When the storm finally ended after a few moments, Electabuzz was completely frozen in a solid block of ice.

"Oh crud!" Trisha exclaimed.

"Body Slam." Tessa ordered.

Despite its paralysis, Sealeo jumped up into the air and landed on Electabuzz with strong enough force to break the ice it was frozen in. Electabuzz was out cold and Trisha fell to her knees as she was given another powerful shock.

"Wow, that was a close one!" Caster announced. "But it looks like we have another victory for the Unbreakable Ice Queen, Tessa Frost!" The crowd cheered again after Cater declared the winner.

"Damn! You are good!" Trisha laughed as she got back to her feet. "That was a hell of a rush!"

"Am I to understand that you enjoyed being electrocuted?" Tessa asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I know I'm weird." Trisha admitted. "But as twisted as it is, it makes me feel alive."

"Strange." Tessa commented. "Still, I found you to be a very worthy opponent. You are the only one who has done such a large amount of damage to my Pokemon other than Silver."

"Wow, high praise from the Ice Queen." Trisha replied. "We'll have to do this again some time."

"Perhaps." Tessa agreed as she headed for the door behind her out of the cage. Trisha called back Electabuzz and went out her own door to met Rachel on the other side.

"Well, I get her warmed up for ya." Trisha said as she gave Rachel a pat on the shoulder. "That is if you make it that far."

"Yeah, it seems like you got the easy one." Rachel agreed.

"Okay, well there's only one match left in this semifinal round." Caster announced as he got back on stage. "So please welcome back our masked rookie, Rachel Curtis!" The audience cheered as Rachel went back into the cage. "And now, please welcome back to the cage a trainer who needs no introduction, the unstoppable… Silveeeerrrrrr!"

The spectators cheered extremely loud as Rachel's opponent entered the cage, some of them chanting Silver's name over and over again. The trainer in question, Silver, was a young man who looked to be in his early teens. He had fairly long red hair that just went past his shoulders. Silver wore a long sleeved black shirt trimmed in red, dark-blue jeans, and black shoes. On his face was a cold yet angry expression. As she finally got a closer look at the mysterious Silver, Rachel felt that his face looked familiar somehow. Not like she had seen his face before, but as if she had seen a face that was similar to his.

"I've been watching you in this tournament Ms. Mystery Girl." Silver said to Rachel. "I have to admit I'm a little impressed. But then beating an army of weaklings isn't that hard. I doubt you'll do as well against me."

"We'll see about that." Rachel told him.

"Let the battle… begin!" Caster declared.

"Come on out Scorch!" Rachel called as she threw out her Pokeball. Scorch emerged from the ball with a sparkling flash.

"Go Croconaw!" Silver called as he threw out a ball of his own.

Emerging from the ball was a light-blue crocodile-like creature that stood on two legs at about three feet. It had a short snout and a large yellow jaw. On top of its head was a red spiked plate like a Mohawk. It had another of these plates on its back and a red spike near the tip of its tail. A section of the creature's torso was yellow and made it look as though Croconaw was wearing an animal pelt.

"Okay Scorch, use Dragon Dance!" Rachel commanded.

Once again, Scorch spread its feet and crossed its forearms together. It then pulled its arms in and gave the air a one-two punch. Just as before, Scorch cried out and briefly glowed with a blue aura.

"Hmph, that seems to be a favored opening move of yours." Silver commented. "Still, it seems to work for you. Though the fact that you feel you need to power up your Pokemon each time it goes into battle shows a sign of weakness."

"Use Dragon Claw!" Rachel commanded. Scorch charged in at incredible speed with its blue glowing claws raised.

"Crunch." Silver commanded.

Just as Scorch came within striking range, Croconaw twisted its body and bit down with its powerful jaws on Scorch's left shoulder. The fire lizard cried out in intense pain. Rachel cried out as well as her collar gave her a shock more powerful than ones she had experienced before in the tournament. It was taking all she had not to fall to her knees.

"Oh, that is nasty!" Caster declared from his booth. "I would not want to be Scorch right now. Many Pokemon have been unable to go on after being clamped by that Croconaw's powerful jaws."

"Not as easy as you thought fight me, is it?" Silver taunted with a small smirk. "I'm not like any of the weaklings you've faced so far."

"Damit! Scorch, try using Dragon Claw again!" Rachel ordered.

With Croconaw still clamping down on its shoulder, the claws on Scorch's right arm began to glow blue. Suddenly Scorch slashed Croconaw on the side of its back using those claws, causing the gator Pokemon to release its grip and cry out in pain. A look of utter surprise appeared on Silver's face as his own collar shocked him.

"Time for some payback!" Rachel declared. "Scorch, move in and use Fire Fang!"

Scorch charged in with fire leaking from its mouth. With incredible speed, Scorch bit down on Croconaw's right arm. After a moment Scorch finally let go of the gator Pokemon's arm. A large red mark was left where Scorch had bitten down and looked as if it was causing Croconaw pain.

"Holy shit!" Caster exclaimed. "It looks like Scorch has actually burned Silver's Croconaw with its Fire Fang!"

"Why you…" Silver began to curse.

"Flamethrower!" Rachel commanded. Scorch breathed a powerful stream of fire out of its mouth that hit Croconaw in the face. "Now hit it with a double Dragon Claw!"

Before Croconaw could recover from the flame attack, Scorch charged in and slashed the gator Pokemon twice across the chest with its blue glowing claws. When the attack had ended Croconaw was breathing heavily.

"Use Hydro Pump!" Silver commanded. Suddenly Croconaw blasted out a powerful stream of water from its jaws that hit Scorch right in the face. Rachel almost fell to her knees after receiving another powerful shock. When the attack had ended though, Scorch was still standing. "Finish with Shadow Claw!"

Croconaw charged forward with its claws glowing with an eerie purple light. With one powerful slash across the chest, Scorch was down on the ground out cold. At the same time, Rachel was hit by another powerful shock and fell to her knees, almost passing out.

"Wow, so close!" Caster commented. "Our mystery girl Rachel sure came pretty damn close, but once again the winner is… Silver!"

The crowd cheered loudly again and began chanting Silver's name. Silver called Croconaw back to its Pokeball and then walked over to Rachel. He looked down upon her with the same cold but angry expression that he had before.

"Hmph, seems I underestimated you a little." Silver admitted to her. "You and your Pokemon are stronger than I thought. Besides Tessa Frost, you're the only trainer here that's actually given me a challenge. Your name was Rachel, wasn't it?" Rachel could only nod in response due to the shock she had received. "You've actually made this tournament interesting. I usually go to these things to kill my boredom here in Sinnoh. Come back if you want to challenge me again."

With that, Silver walked off towards the cage door. After a moment, Rachel finally got back to her feet and called Scorch back to its Pokeball before heading out the cage herself.

* * *

About half an hour later Rachel was walking back to her house with Trisha. They had stayed to see the end out the tournament, mainly because Rachel's body needed a little time to recover before leaving. Despite the damage Croconaw had received from fighting Scorch, Silver still managed to win against Tessa. When it was all over, people began to leave in droves. Though Rachel had enjoyed the whole experience of the tournament, she was exhausted and her whole body felt sore.

"So how you doin' after your first cage tournament?" Trisha asked as they neared the house.

"I'm worn out and my head is throbbing." Rachel told her. "Other than that I feel pretty good. What time is it anyway?"

"About… 2:45 AM." Trisha answered after looking at her watch in the pale moonlight. "Thank god the busses run late, huh?"

"Oh god, and we have school tomorrow!" Rachel groaned. "There's no way in hell my parents will let me skip a day of class. I'm in enough trouble with them as it is."

"You had fun though, right?" Trisha asked.

"Yeah I did." Rachel admitted. "Even though I had to cover up my face, for the first time I actually felt like a normal person, like I had finally escaped this stupid destiny of mine to become another Officer Jenny."

"Does that mean you'll want to join the next tournament?" Trisha asked.

"Hell yeah!" Rachel confirmed. "And it's not just because I felt free for the first time. I want to take on Silver again."

"Wow, that is bold." Trisha told her. "You sure you want to put yourself through that?"

"For the first time in my life I have a goal of my own." Rachel answered. "And I want to see that goal through to the end. So one way or another I'm taking Silver down."

* * *

**Author's Note:** One of the challenges of this chapter was figuring out how to show Scorch using Dragon Dance. I don't recall ever seeing that move in the anime, so I decided just to write it as a sort of kung-fu style move. As to why Scorch is a shiny Charmeleon instead of a normally colored one, ever see a shiny Charizard? That'll matter later in the story. On a slightly different note, there are a few reasons why Silver used a Croconaw rather than say a Bayleef or a Quilava. The first reason is because I wanted him to use a Pokemon that had a major type advantage against Scorch. The second is because whenever I played the old Gold, Silver, and Crystal games I'd usually pick Cyndaquil as my starter. And the third reason is simply because I think Croconaw and its evolved form fit Silver. I mean they're such savage Pokemon.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	3. Black Fire

**Author's Note:** It seems that this story has become more weekly than _Best Wishes Revised_. Maybe it's because this story is a bit darker. But I am also having some fun with this one.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Chapter 3: Black Fire

The day following the night of the cage tournament did not start out easy for Rachel. Because she had stayed out so late and the massive headache she had gotten from the shock collar she had worn in the tournament, Rachel had an extremely hard time pulling herself out of bed. That morning, Rachel's daily lecture from her mother had been even more agonizing than normal. The rest of that morning did not go much better. Though the walk to school was uneventful, Rachel had little choice but to attend her usual morning classes that morning after being caught smoking in the restroom with Trisha the previous day. After what seemed like an endless morning, the lunch break finally came. And Rachel met up with Trisha out behind the school.

"Hey there sunshine." Trisha greeted looking her usual chipper and smug self. "Boy, you look like crap."

"How is it that you don't?" Rachel asked in a tone that suggested she was in no mood for pleasantries.

"I've been doing this way longer than you have, remember?" Trisha reminded her as she pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "Here, this might help a little."

Rachel quickly pulled a cigarette out of the pack. Trisha then got out a lighter and lit the cigarette up before pulling out one of her own. Rachel inhaled and leaned against the brick wall of the school to relax.

"Oh yeah, that's much better." Rachel declared as she exhaled. "So… when's the next cage tournament?"

"Next week." Trisha answered after taking a puff. "You really wanna do that again, huh?"

"I told you, I want to take down Silver." Rachel reminded her.

"Hey, you know Silver doesn't show up at every one of these tournaments." Trisha told her. "There's no way to know if he'll be at the next one."

"Oh he'll be there." Rachel said with absolute certainty. "He told me after he beat me last night that I interest him as an opponent. If I'm right, he'll show up just to see if I enter again."

"Wow, I guess we'll both need to train then." Trisha said looking a bit surprised. "I know a good place we can do it too. We can even start today. Of course we'll have to ditch school a little early, as if we haven't done that before."

"Let's do it tomorrow. Today I just wanna go home and crash into bed." Rachel told her.

"Whatever." Trisha said with a shrug.

* * *

On the afternoon of the following day, Rachel and Trisha cut classes and went down to another shady part of the city. Both of them were wearing the same outfits that they had worn to the last cage tournament. After a quick bus ride and only a brief two-minute walk, the two had come to what looked like a small rundown shop covered in graffiti. Upon entering the shop Rachel saw that the shelves were very rare and hard to find items that any Pokemon Trainer would want, and many of them were at outrageous prices. In moments the shopkeeper came out of the back room to greet them, and Rachel was greatly surprised to find that it was Caster Dice.

"Well now, if it isn't the lovely Trisha Lighting and her masked friend." Caster greeted. "Tell me something Ms. Curtis, why do you cover your face like that?"

"When I was eight, a Tentacool hit me in the face with an acid attack." Rachel lied confidently. "Got a problem with that?'

"Yikes! No problem at all." Caster assured her. "So, what can I do for you ladies?"

"Well for one thing, did you get that item for my Electabuzz yet?" Trisha asked.

"Oh that, I'm afraid I'm still having trouble tracking one down." Caster said apologetically. "You know how hard one of those things is to find."

"Damit Caster!" Trisha said angrily as she slammed her hand hard onto the top of the counter. "You told me you get me an Electirizer if I did that favor for your younger brother! And it ended up being a pretty big damn favor!"

"Look, I'm doing my best Trish." Caster told her. "Besides, my brother Mitch said you had a pretty good time."

"Well… he was hot." Trisha admitted. "Him and that friend he ended up bringing with him. But I couldn't sit down for a week after that without an icepack, so you owe me big!"

"Uh Trish, what did…?" Rachel began to ask.

"You don't wanna know." Trisha told her.

"Hey, the second I get an Electirizer in, I'll let you know." Caster assured Trisha.

"Okay, fine." Trisha sighed. "Look, we're not even here for that. Rachel wants to train for the next cage tournament that coming up."

"Wow, you must be as big a glutton for punishment as your friend Trish here." Caster said to Rachel. "Well, I think I can help you out. Follow me."

Rachel and Trisha followed Cater into another door in the back of a shop. The door led down a short dark hallway to another door, one made of thick grey metal. Caster opened the door and flipped the light switch inside, revealing a small stadium with metal walls.

"I know this place is a closet compared to the arena," Caster said as Rachel and Trisha followed him inside, "but it should serve your purposes." He then went over to the far wall and opened up a small hatch. From it he pulled out two black metal collars, and then walked back over to Rachel and Trisha. "These collars work pretty much the same as the ones used in an actual cage tournament, only they don't have as much juice. There's a computer here that'll register the hits to your Pokemon and shock you, just like in the arena."

"I don't mind wearing the collar, but why do I need one to train?" Rachel asked as she took the collar from Caster.

"To build up you endurance." Caster explained. "At lot of times in a cage tournament the shocks from the collars will get strong enough to wipe a competitor out. And when that happens they're out of the tournament, even if your Pokemon can still fight. That's why it's a good idea to train with some low voltage collars in order to build up some stamina."

"Hey Caster, I can take it from here." Trisha said as she put on her collar. "You just worry about running this shop of yours."

"Check, have fun you two." Caster said as he exited the room and closed the door behind him.

"So Rachel, you ready to throw down?" Trisha asked.

"Bring it on!" Rachel said as she put on her collar.

* * *

Rachel and Trisha continued to train throughout the week and on into the weekend. Each day they had sneaked away from school early or out of their homes to go use the small arena in the back of Caster's shop. The morning of the day of the tournament finally came, and Rachel began her normal walk to school, secretly but eagerly awaiting the night that was to come, the night when she could be free of her wretched destiny for at least a few more hours. As Rachel turned that first corner she once again ran into Hope and her Chansey.

"Hi Rachel." Hope greeted in her usual cheerful manner. "Mind if I walk with you this morning?'

"Whatever." Rachel said indifferently as she continued on. Hope and Chansey immediately followed behind.

"…You know, it's been a little while since we last saw each other." Hope noted. "I haven't been seeing you around school lately. Have you been sick?"

"Nah, I'm fine." Rachel assured her.

"…Rachel, is something going on?" Hope asked hesitantly. "I've been hearing from a few people around school that you've been sneaking off with that girl, Trisha Lang."

"So what if I am?" Rachel said with a hint of anger in her voice.

"Well, you know I don't like it when you hang out with her." Hope reminded Rachel. "That girl is bad news."

"Yeah? Well Trish is the only normal person who doesn't treat me like just another Officer Jenny clone!" Rachel yelled.

"What about me?" Hope asked looking a bit hurt. "Don't you consider me to be a normal person?"

"…Lately I'm not so sure." Rachel admitted. "It seems like every day you act a little more like just another Nurse Joy."

"Is that so bad?" Hope asked. "Both of our families have wonderful and important legacies. My family heals Pokemon, yours protects Pokemon and brings those who would do them harm to justice. Don't you want to help carry that work on?"

"Damn it Hope! Nobody sees us as individuals!" Rachel told her. "I'd think of all people you'd be the one to understand how I feel!"

"I see you as an individual, and you see me as one. Shouldn't that be enough?" Hope replied. "Rachel, I'm really worried about you. I'm afraid that you're involved in something that will get you in real trouble."

"Save your breath and don't worry about me." Rachel told her. "And keep your nose out of my business." With that, Rachel stormed off, leaving a very worried Hope and Chansey behind.

* * *

Eventually the night had finally fallen and Rachel and Trisha had entered the next tournament. The competition had been just as brutal as the last, but in the end both Trisha and Rachel had made it to the semifinal round. But in an odd twist of fate the two girls were paired off against each other. Yet though Rachel and Trisha were friends, they did not hold back against one another, nor did their Pokemon. As the battle between Scorch and Electabuzz raged on down in the arena, a girl wearing a white hooded sweatshirt, black sunglasses, and a white stocking over the lower half of her face watched the battle intently.

"Scorch, finish this now with Dragon Claw!" Rachel commanded down in the arena.

Scorched charged forward with blue glowing claws and slashed Electabuzz across the chest. Electabuzz fell to the ground unconscious. At the same time Trisha received a powerful electric shock from her collar and fell to her knees.

"Well, looks like the show's over for Electabuzz." Caster announced into the microphone in his booth. "The winner of our second semifinal round is none other than the mysterious Rachel Curtis!" Everyone in the audience except for the girl in sunglasses cheered loudly as Trisha got back to her feet and called Electabuzz back to its Pokeball.

"Damn girl, you've gotten good!" Trisha told Rachel. "Let's hope you do as well against your next opponent."

"Don't worry, I will." Rachel declared.

"Good luck then." Trisha said before turning and walking out of the arena.

"Okay, now for the main event!" Caster announced as he walked back out into the arena. "For the final round of this tournament, our mysterious Rachel Curtis will be facing a trainer who needs no introduction. Still fresh from his latest victory over Tessa Frost, please welcome back to the arena, the undefeatable… Siiillveeeerrr!"

Through the door on the other side of the arena emerged Silver, who once again a cold yet angry look on his face. Much of the audience cheered loudly and chanted Silver's name as he took his place on stage. Both Rachel and Scorch narrowed their eyes at the redheaded trainer.

"Well, you actually came back." Silver observed with an arrogant smirk. "Let's hope you can entertain me as well as you did the last time."

"Oh I promise you, you'll be blown away." Rachel declared.

"Alright, now that I'm safely out of danger from getting caught in the crossfire," Caster announced after reentering his booth, "let the battle… begin!"

"Go Croconaw!" Silver called as he threw out a Pokeball. The crocodile Pokemon emerged from the ball and stood ready to battle.

Both Scorch and Croconaw glared at each other for a moment before suddenly crying out. As soon as they did, both their bodies began to glow with a bright white light and change shape. The audience fell silent and looked on with amazement. When the lights cleared, Scorch had grown to almost six feet tall. His neck had grown longer and he had gained large powerful wings. Scorch's skin had turned black, with his stomach becoming grey and the inside of his wings becoming red. His arms had grown somewhat smaller and the single pseudo-horn on the back of his head had been replaced by two small horns on the sides that pointed backward. Scorch's whole appearance resembled that of a European dragon.

Croconaw meanwhile had grown to a height of about seven feet. It back had become more hunched and the red spikes on its back had become far more pronounced. Its snout and tail had grown longer, as did its arms, which had gained well-developed clawed hands. The animal pelt pattern on its torso had vanished, but between its hips was a large yellow V-shape.

"Sweet merciful crap! I do not believe what we've just seen here!" Caster declared. "Silver's Croconaw has just evolved into a Feraligatr, and Rachel's Charmeleon, Scorch, has just evolved into a black Charizard! We can forget whatever battle we were expecting her tonight, because now we're about to see something a thousand times more epic!"

"Our Pokemon seem eager to battle each other." Silver. "Let's just see how strong they've become."

"Scorch, use Wing Attack!" Rachel commanded.

"Feraligatr, counter with Hydro Pump!" Silver ordered.

Scorch quickly took off into the air with a flap of his mighty wings. Feraligatr fired a powerful stream of water from his jaws at Scorch, but the black fire dragon quickly moved out of the way of the attack and began flying at the gator Pokemon. As Scorch flew at Feraligatr its wings began to glow with a white light. In a flash Scorch rammed his left wing into Feraligatr's chest and retreated high into the air behind it. Silver was hit by a powerful shock from his collar.

"Okay, now use Dragon Dance followed by another Wing Attack!" Rachel commanded.

Scorch twisted his neck and tail before flapping his wings twice and slashing the air with his claws. He then roared as his body briefly glowed with a bright blue aura. At unbelievable speed, Scorch flew at Feraligatr from behind with glowing wings and hit the gator Pokemon in the back.

"Dragon Claw!" Rachel commanded. In an instant Scorch flew in close and slashed Feraligatr in the jaw with blue glowing claws on its right arm.

"Big mistake!" Silver declared after recovering from another shock. "Shadow Claw!"

Soon after recovering from the attack, Feraligatr quickly slashed Scorch across his stomach with the claws of its right hand, which were glowing with an ominous purple light. Scorch roared out in pain, and Rachel was hit by a shock that was stronger than anything she had felt before.

"Now use Crunch!" Silver commanded. Before Scorch could recover from the last attack, Feraligatr bit down on Scorch's right shoulder with its powerful jaws.

"Use… Flamethrower!" Rachel commanded as she struggled against another electric shock. Scorch managed to breath out a powerful stream of flames that hit Feraligatr in the back. "Flamethrower again!" Scorch let loose another blast of fire, but the jaws of Feraligatr would just not let go.

"Aw man, this is brutal!" Caster declared. "I don't think either Scorch or Rachel can take much more of this!"

"Rrrgh… DRAGON CLAW!" Rachel shouted. Scorch's eyes widened and in an instant he managed to slash Feraligatr in the shoulder with blue glowing claws, causing Feraligatr to cry out in pain and finally let go. "Use Dragon Claw two more times!"

Very quickly Scorch slashed Feraligatr two more times in the jaw with incredible force. When the attacks ended the gator Pokemon seemed like it was having a hard time standing up.

"Finish it!" Rachel commanded. "Flamethrower!"

Scorch roared and the flame on the tip of its tail burned larger and brighter than before. He then burst forth another powerful blast of flames that hit Feraligatr right in the face. When the attack ended after a few moments, Feraligatr staggered for a moment before finally falling forward to the ground. The audience was silent with utter shock.

"…Holy shit…" Caster said after several moments had passed. "I can't believe I'm saying this but… it looks like Feraligatr is unable to battle! The winner of this match and the champion of this week's Cage Match Tournament is Rachel Curtis!"

The audience then began to cheer for Rachel, some of them even chanting her name. Rachel could hardly believe what she was hearing. She felt as though she was in some sort of wonderful dream. Silver meanwhile had gotten back to her feet and called Feraligatr back to its Pokeball.

"Hmph, it seems that you are a worthy opponent after all." Silver admitted to Rachel. "But I will not let this defeat stand. You had better come to the next tournament to face me again."

"Don't worry, I'll be here." Rachel assured him. Silver huffed one last time before walking out of the arena.

* * *

Later that night, Trisha and Rachel had gotten off the bus and began walking back towards Rachel's house. As they walked the two were unaware that they were being followed.

"That was a hell of a night!" Trisha declared. "How ya feeling champ?"

"I'm tired and my head hurts like hell again, but I feel great!" Rachel told her. "I still can't believe I actually beat Silver."

"Neither can I." Trisha agreed. "So now what, are you going back for next week's tournament?"

"Silver wants a rematch, and I intend to give him one." Rachel replied.

"You can't go back!" a voice called from behind, causing Rachel and Trisha to turn. Standing behind them was the mysterious girl in the sunglasses.

"Who the hell are you?" Rachel demanded to know. The girl took of her hood, sunglasses, and stocking, revealing that she was Hope.

"Oh great, Ms. Plain Jane Joy, come to ruin our fun again." Trisha said sarcastically as she crossed her arms. "What have you come to scold us about this time?"

"I heard about that barbaric tournament from someone at school." Hope explained. "And this person told me she heard that you're a regular participant Trisha. I hoped that I was wrong about what was going on, but I saw the whole thing. Rachel, how could you take part in such a brutal competition?"

"Damit Hope! This is none of your business!" Rachel told her. "Just stay out of it!"

"No I won't!" Hope declared. "I can't let you fight in those tournaments anymore Rachel!"

* * *

**Author's Note:** Originally I had planed for Rachel to lose her rematch with Silver, but when I got to that point I felt that it would be a better story if she actually won. In the next chapter, Hope is going to play a fairly important role in this story. But that probably goes without saying.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	4. Down the Dark Path

**Author's Note:** This next chapter was originally going to be two chapters, but I realized they would've been too short. Anyway, that bloody scene I mentioned at the beginning of this story is coming up at the end of this chapter.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Chapter 4: Down the Dark Path

Things had taken a very awkward and uncomfortable turn for Rachel. Only moments ago she was having the best night of her life. Only hours ago Rachel had defeated Silver in the last cage tournament. But as Rachel was heading back to her house with Trisha, Hope had suddenly showed up and had witness the whole tournament in secret. And after this little revelation, Hope had told Rachel that she wasn't going to allow her to participate in any more cage tournaments.

"You won't let me?" Rachel repeated with anger in her voice. "You have no damn right to stop me Hope!"

"Rachel, I can't let you keep doing something that could get you in a lot of trouble!" Hope argued. "Besides, don't you care that you and Trisha are pushing your Pokemon way too hard?"

"Oh please, I haven't pushed Scorch any harder than I've pushed myself." Rachel retorted. "The same goes for Trisha and Electabuzz."

"That's right. In case you didn't notice, those shock collars were wearing weren't for show." Trisha cut in. "Or did you think Rachel and I were just twitching like that for fun?"

"Well then that's all the more reason for both of you to stop." Hope argued. "Rachel, you could get seriously hurt doing this!"

"I'll be fine, so just mind your own business!" Rachel said almost shouting.

"No I won't!" Hope insisted. "Why are you doing this Rachel?"

"Because in those tournaments I'm finally free!" Rachel revealed. "Outside that cage in the arena I'm just another young up and coming Officer Jenny, without a name or face of my own! But in that cage I'm my own person, a powerful trainer that people admire! Hell! I'm now the girl who beat Silver! People will remember me now, me!"

"But Rachel, this is wrong!" Hope began to argue again.

"So what are you going to do Hope?" Rachel asked. "Rat me out and ruin everything?"

"…If I have to." Hope answered after taking a big gulp. Rachel then stormed over and grabbed Hope by the front of her shirt.

"Damn it Hope, if you tell anyone about this I will hate you for the rest of my life!" Rachel threatened. She then let go of Hope and continued walking towards her house. Trisha stayed behind and glared at Hope with crossed arms.

"You are some piece of work, you know that?" Trisha told her. "Rachel finally has something good in her life going for her and you wanna ruin it."

"I'm only trying to keep Rachel from screwing up her life." Hope replied. "But I wouldn't expect you of all people to understand that. You're probably the one who talked Rachel into those horrible tournaments."

"Oh yeah, Rachel was a sweet innocent girl until she met me." Trisha said sarcastically. "Get real you sanctimonious bitch! Whether you like it or not, Rachel was a 'bad girl' before she met me."

"I don't believe that." Hope denied.

"Yeah, I didn't think you would." Trisha said with a slight laugh as she shook her head. "Let me tell you about the first time I met Rachel. I had just started going to our school after my family moved here two years ago. That afternoon the first day I went behind the school to let off a little steam, and when I got there I saw this Officer Jenny girl leaning against the wall and taking a smoke. I just stood there holding my mouth open because I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

"I asked her right there if this was some sort of gag. And she said to me, 'Do I look funny to you?' I then asked if those cigarettes she was smoking were real, and she handed me one to try. That was the first time I ever smoked a cigarette in my life."

"Wait, are you trying to tell me that Rachel was the one that got smoking?" Hope asked with disbelief. "That just can't be true!"

"Sorry to blow your mind Stepford girl, but it's the god's honest truth." Trisha told her. "And that day I got to know Rachel pretty damn well, which is more than I can say for a lot of people. Before I met Rachel I thought my life sucked. I mean my dad's a stuck-up executive that refuses to admit that he's screwing his twenty-five year old secretary and my mom's a tight assed alcoholic who denies that she's doing her tennis instructor. And they put pressure on me every god damn day to become a 'huge success' like they are.

"But that screwed up life's got nothing on Rachel's. Before I met her I never realized how much it must suck to have the same face as every other girl in her family and be forced to get the same job they have. And I thought Rachel was so cool for wanting to rebel against that. But maybe that's the problem you have with Rachel Hope. Maybe you just can't except that she wants a different life from all the other drones in her family. That's what has you so bothered. So here's a little free advice, stay out of Rachel's business and let her live her own life. Otherwise you'll be getting hell from me."

With that, Trisha stormed off after Rachel. Hope sighed and decided to head for home. As she did, she thought hard about what Trisha had just told her. It had never occurred to Hope before that Rachel hated her life so much that she would want an escape, and she had actually started to question if she should really interfere. As Hope continued to walk down the sidewalk, an old bearded man wearing dirty brown clothes came down the sidewalk in the opposite direction she was heading. The old man was mumbling to himself as Hope suddenly brushed up against him.

"Oh, I'm sorry sir. I didn't see you there." Hope said with an apologetic smile. But as she tried to walk off, the old man suddenly grabbed her by the arm with his gnarled hand.

"You are doomed!" the old man said to her with a crazy look in his eyes. "I can see your future. You and the two you were just talking to are heading down a dark path! A path that holds nothing but blood!"

"Please yet go sir!" Hope begged, but the old man continued to hold on to her with a vice-like grip.

"Beware child!" the old man continued, his eyes becoming more intense. "You and your friends have reached a crossroads, and if you continue down this dark path you will find nothing but despair! For at the end lies the judgment of the five chosen! Beware the false prisoner in league with the lord of nightmares! Beware the fiery rider chosen by the lion of flames! Beware the wandering minstrel who travels with the tiger of thunder! Beware the queen of water partnered with the incarnation of the north winds! And most of all beware the Aura Guardian who is the champion of the Guardian of the Sky, the great rainbow bird! For these five warriors will spell your doom!"

Suddenly the old man let go of Hope's arm and clutched his chest as if he was heaving a heart attack. He then fell to the ground, and with some effort managed to scribble something in the dirt on the side of the road with the index finger of his right hand. The old doomsayer then slumped over unconscious. Hope went over and checked his pulse and found that he didn't have one. She also noticed that he was no longer breathing and backed away. Hope knew that the old man was dead. As she got to her feet she glance and saw what the old man had written in the dirt with his last breath.

"XD001"

Hope slowly backed away from the old man's corpse. Then after a moment she started running away as fast as her legs could carry her.

* * *

Almost a week had passed since Hope's encounter with Rachel and the strange old man. Since that time, Hope had done her absolute best to avoid both Rachel and Trisha. She had also been having a lot of trouble deciding what to do about the current situation. Hope originally had planed to tell someone about Rachel's participation in the cage tournaments if Rachel wouldn't back out on her own, but then Hope certainly didn't want Rachel to hate her. Plus Hope had realized that Trisha did have a point, there was noting wrong with Rachel wanting to live a life different from the rest of her family, yet Hope wondered if there was a better way for Rachel to do that.

Another problem Hope was having was that she could not shake the rather disturbing encounter that she had with the old man. She knew that his ramblings had to be nothing more than insanity brought on by age and what were probably years of living on the street. Yet Hope found it very hard to ignore the old man's warning, and the odd message he had written in the dirt before he had expired. That afternoon Hope was at the lake out behind her family's house, the center of which held a stone shrine where a certain Pokemon was said to appear at on the night of a full moon. Hope sat by the lake, looking at her reflection in the water. As she did, Chansey walked up behind her.

"Chan?" the egg Pokemon spoke, getting Hope's attention.

"Oh, I'm okay Chansey. I'm just trying to figure out what to do about Rachel." Hope assured her. "You know, I guess I never really saw anything wrong with having the same face as the rest of the women in my family. Maybe that's because we can tell each other apart. I mean I can tell the difference between my mom and my aunts, and I can tell all my cousins apart. I always thought that was enough… but I guess it's not enough for Rachel."

"Chansey." Chansey replied in a sympathetic tone.

"I really don't know what to do." Hope continued. "The last thing I want is for Rachel to hate me for the rest of her life, but… I just can't let her keep fighting in those tournaments."

"Looks like you've got something on your mind." A voice suddenly spoke. Hope turned and saw standing a few feet away a woman who looked just like her only older and wearing a nurse's outfit. This of course was Hope's mother, Nurse Faith Lovegood Joy. "You have a problem sweetie?"

"Hi mom." Hope greeted as she got up and walked over. "I didn't expect you to come home so early."

"Your Aunt Martha came to her shift early so I could take afternoon off." Faith explained. "Now, what's troubling you?"

"Well…" Hope began hesitantly. "I have this friend who I know is doing something that she shouldn't, but if I tell someone about it my friend will hate me. What do you think I should do?"

"Hmm… well, one time when I was training to be a nurse I had to help give a Pokemon a shot. And this Pokemon really didn't like getting shots." Faith began. "But if the Pokemon didn't get its shot it would've gotten very sick. So it had to be done, and it was. My point is that sometimes in order to help someone, you have to do something that they'll hate. And while I'm sure this friend of yours will be mad at you, she'll probably get over it in time and forgive you. Understand?"

"Yeah, I think so." Hope replied. "Thanks mom."

* * *

The next afternoon, which was the day of another cage tournament, Hope had gone over to Rachel's house. She began to reach for the doorbell but hesitated. Hope had decided what to do about Rachel after thinking about what her mother had told her, but she still kept wondering if she was doing the right thing. In the end though, Hope rang the bell and in moments Lenore answered the door.

"Good afternoon Officer Jenny." Hope greeted.

"Well good afternoon Hope. It's always nice seeing you here." Lenore greeted back. "But I'm afraid if you've come to visit Rachel she's not here. As it hard as it is to believe she has detention. My daughter of all people"

"Yes, I know that ma'am." Hope replied. "There's actually… something I have to tell you."

* * *

The night came, and once again Rachel had gone to another cage tournament. She had come to the tournament alone however; as Trisha could not come due to family matters she could not get out of. The tournament had only just begun, and already Rachel was in the arena awaiting her first opponent. From where she was standing Rachel could see Silver and Tessa Frost watching her from the dugout near the arena.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen!" Caster said on stage into his microphone. "Once again we have we have a dynamite lineup of competitors here. And it looks like tonight's tournament is going to start out with a bang. For our first match we have the mysterious… Rachel Curtis!" The audience cheered loudly upon hearing Rachel's name. "And for her opponent, we have making a return visit, Clubber Menendez!" Clubber walked into the cage with an arrogant sneer on his face.

"Back for more, huh?" Rachel said in a confident tone.

"You think I'd let a little girl like you beat me and get away with it?" Clubber replied. "Besides, I heard you beat that Silver kid in the last tournament. Which means if I beat you I'll prove that I'm better than him."

"Then bring it on." Rachel dared. "If you want to get humiliated more than last time that is."

Before the battle could begin, a loud bang was suddenly heard in the stadium. In an instant several police officers began flooding the stadium.

"Aw shit! A raid!" Caster exclaimed. "Uh, well, looks like that's all for tonight folks. Have a good night and… no refunds!"

With that, Caster dropped his microphone and ran away as quickly as he could. Rachel stood and watched as the stadium erupted into chaos. She noticed Silver and Tessa heading for a door in the corner of the stadium, one that the police didn't notice. Just then, the cage door behind Rachel opened. And when Rachel looked to see who it was she went pale, for it was her mother carrying a megaphone.

"Attention everyone!" Lenore said into the megaphone as two officers came up behind Clubber and cuffed him. "This illegal and unsanctioned tournament is now over! As of now, you are all to be brought in for questioning!"

Just then Lenore turned and saw Rachel looking at her. She then took off Rachel's hood and pulled down the stocking covering her face. Clubber and everyone in the stands froze when they saw what Rachel really looked like.

"Hey! Rachel Curtis is a Jenny!" Clubber cried. "She's a snitch! She's been running some kinda sting on us!"

"Quiet you!" a male police officer told Clubber as he dragged him off.

In the whole stadium Rachel could hear everyone whispering. They all seemed to think what Clubber had said was true. Rachel then noticed Silver and Tessa leaving discretely, and she knew what they had to be thinking about her.

"You're coming with me young lady!" Lenore ordered as she pulled Rachel by the arm. Rachel and dragged her off. Rachel didn't do anything to fight back, for she knew that the freedom she had found had come to an end.

* * *

After an agonizing five hours at the police station, Rachel had returned home with her mother. Lenore brought Rachel into the living room and sat her down on the couch. She then stood with crossed arms, looking at Rachel with a calm but very furious expression.

"…So, how'd you find out?" Rachel asked after what seemed like a minute. "Or am I allowed to know?"

"Hope told me, and a good thing she did." Lenore answered. "I don't know what to do with you young lady! First you start skipping your classes and not doing your homework! Then you start smoking, and now this? What is going on in your head?"

"I wanted to be something other than just a another Officer Jenny! And for awhile I was!" Rachel told her. "Not that you would understand that!"

"Do you have any idea what it was like for me to bring my own daughter into the station for questioning?" Lenore asked, trying to maintain her calm. "Do you have any idea how you've disgraced our family's legacy tonight?"

"WHEN THE HELL ARE YOU GOING TO FIGURE OUT THAT I DON'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT OUR FAMILY'S HALLOWED LEGACY?" Rachel shouted as she shot up from the couch. Lenore responded by slapping Rachel hard in the face.

"Go to your room, NOW!" Lenore ordered. "Your father and I are going to have a long and hard talk about what to do with you."

Rachel glared at Lenore for a brief moment before storming upstairs to her room. Once inside she slammed the door behind her and went straight to her bathroom, taking her sweatshirt off as she went. As soon as she got in and turned on the light she saw her face in the mirror, the face she had come to hate with a passion. The light in her bathroom flickered for a moment, an for a brief instant she thought she saw herself wearing the same police uniform worn by the other members of her family. Rachel screamed with anger and punched her mirror, causing it to break. As Rachel looked at the fallen shards of glass and saw the shattered reflection of her face an idea suddenly came to her. She then picked up a large shard with her right hand.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Hope came to the house and rang the doorbell. A very exhausted-looking Lenore came and answered the door.

"Um, good evening Officer Jenny." Hope greeted. "I'm sorry for coming over so late, but I'm… worried about Rachel."

"…You're not the only one." Lenore sighed.

"If it's okay with you, I would really like to talk to Rachel." Hope requested. "At least for a minute. But if I can't, I understand."

"No, come on in." Lenore replied as she moved aside and opened the door wider. "Maybe you can talk some sense into my daughter."

"Thank you so much, I'll only be a few minutes." Hope said as she went inside.

In moments Hope was upstairs and at Rachel's door. She knocked on the door a few times and there was no answer. Becoming a bit worried, Hope opened the door and went inside, and did not Rachel on her bed. She then went over to the bathroom and saw that the door was open a crack. Hope pushed the door open a crack and the first thing she was the broken mirror covered with a large stain of blood, causing a sick feeling to creep into her stomach. Hesitantly Hope looked down to the floor of the bathroom, and the sight before her caused her to let out a blood curdling scream that could be heard throughout the neighborhood. Hope found Rachel on the floor unconscious, and she had gouged out her own left eye.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Okay, so that scene might not have been as bloody as I originally thought it'd be. Good place to end the chapter though. Anyway, there was a good deal of foreshadowing in this chapter. If you're familiar with my other Pokemon stories, you can probably guess who the five people that the old man mentioned are. Two are very major characters from the anime and the other three are OCs of mine. Oh, and the number, XD001, is also pretty important too. And it might be familiar to those of you with a Game Cube.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	5. Son of Giovanni

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the late update this week. I wanted to do just a little more work on my other Pokemon story, _Best Wishes Revised_, and then I decided to take a little break for a few days. But I'm back now. This isn't going to be the most action packed chapter in this story, but it is a significant one.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Chapter 5: Son of Giovanni

The next morning, Rachel awoke to find herself in an unfamiliar room, though after a moment she realized that she was probably in a hospital. She then recalled that the night before she had gouged out her own left eye, which was why it seemed to her why she had one eye closed. Rachel turned her head slowly to the left and could see the sun shining through the curtain of the window in her room. Then she turned her head slowly to the right, and the sight before her eye filled her with rage. Sitting in a chair next to her hospital bed was Hope, who had apparently been dozing off. In moments though, Hope stirred and saw that Rachel was awake.

"Oh thank god, you're up." Hope said with a relieved expression. "I've been so worried. How… how are you feeling?"

"How am I feeling?" Rachel repeated in a soft yet very angry tone as she tried to sit up a bit. "How the hell do you think I feel you bitch?"

"I know you must be angry with me." Hope said with a sad expression. "But… what I did, telling your mother about what you were doing, it was for the best Rachel. I couldn't let fight in any more of those brutal tournaments. Both you and Scorch could've gotten seriously hurt."

"Oh yeah, I'm a lot better off now." Rachel said sarcastically. "Those tournaments were the only thing I had, the only thing that was mine. And you took that from me! …Now I don't have anything. I'm trapped again."

"…You still have me Rachel." Hope pointed out. At that point Rachel broke into a very unsettling laugh.

"You still don't get it, do you?" Rachel said after she stopped laughing. "I don't want the life that the rest of my family has! I don't want to be just another Officer Jenny! I want something for myself, and I finally had that until you ruined it! And you think that I'd be happy with just having a spineless little snitch like you by my side?"

"Rachel…" Hope began to plead.

"GET OUT!" Rachel shouted. "GET OUT AND NEVER COME BACK!"

"…Okay Rachel." Hope said looking very hurt as she pulled out a Pokeball and put it on the table by Rachel's bed. "I'll just leave Scorch here with you and go…. Goodbye." And with that, Hope left the room on the verge of tears.

* * *

On the afternoon of the next day, Hope was walking back to the hospital to try visiting Rachel again. She hoped that Rachel would be in a more forgiving mood after having a day to rest, but Hope was not optimistic. Hope looked down at the sidewalk lost in thought as she neared the hospital, which caused her to inadvertently bump into someone when she got near the door.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Hope said very apologetically as she looked up, only to find that it was Trisha she had bumped into. And Trisha was not at all happy to see her.

"You've got some nerve showing up back here." Trisha told her. "Haven't you done enough damage already?"

"I was only trying to help before." Hope said almost on the verge of tears. "But I guess… I ended up hurting Rachel more than I helped her, didn't I?"

"Damn right you did!" Trisha replied. "Look, I get that you're fine with being just another Nurse Joy, but don't try and force your uniformity on anybody else. Now do us all a favor and leave! And if I ever see you near Rachel again, I'll make you sorry that you were ever born!"

Hope decided not to argue and turned to leave. A little later as she was walking away though, Hope glanced and saw Silver and Tessa pass right by her on the sidewalk. She stopped and watched the two entered the hospital. Hope became concerned, as she knew very well that the two were regulars from the cage tournaments. Though she knew that it was perhaps better that she stayed out of whatever was going on, Hope could not help but worry and headed back to the hospital.

* * *

A little later, Rachel was sitting in her hospital bed looking into a small hand mirror that one of the nurses had brought for her. She was still getting used to seeing the bandages covering the socket that once contained her left eye. Not to mention being half blind. Still, Rachel did welcome the change in a way, as it meant that she at least looked a little different from the other women in her family. Suddenly there came a soft knock on the door, causing Rachel to look and see that it was Trisha.

"Mind if I come in?" Trisha asked.

"Not at all." Rachel replied as she put down the mirror.

"So… I guess it's pretty stupid to ask, but how're ya doin'?" Trisha asked in an attempt to start a conversation.

"Well, I'm alive I guess." Rachel replied. "…Aren't you shocked?"

"Not really." Trisha said as she came in and sat in the chair at Rachel's bedside. "Hell, I'm a little surprised that you didn't do something like this sooner."

"You know what? So am I." Rachel admitted. "I've always hated this face. I hated it because it wasn't my own, just like my life. But I guess I didn't get the nerve to do something about it until now."

"Well, I guess I can say that I know someone with an eye patch now." Trisha said somewhat jokingly. "Plus you're gonna look like a total badass." Rachel laughed somewhat bitterly at Trisha's comment. "So how's your family taking this?"

"Oh wow, that's been the most surreal part of this whole thing." Rachel replied. "My little sister won't stop crying of course. But both my parents have just been speechless about the whole thing, especially my mom. They're probably going to throw me in the loony bin after this though."

Just then the door to the room opened again, and entering was Tessa followed closely by Silver. Both Rachel and Trisha were completely shocked by their arrival. Silver meanwhile merely looked at Rachel with his usual cold yet angry expression.

"I'd like to have a word with both of you." Silver told the two girls.

"Well you can just shove it!" Trisha said as she stood up from her chair. "Rachel's been through enough, and she doesn't need you giving her a hard time just because she happens to be part of the Jenny family! So you two can just…!" Before Trisha could finish though, Tessa quickly darted over and held a knife to her throat, causing both Rachel and Trisha to freeze.

"Don't interrupt him." Tessa ordered coldly.

"Calm yourself Tessa. There's no need for that." Silver commanded.

"As you wish." Tessa said as she put away her knife and walked back behind Silver. Trisha breathed a sigh of relief as Silver looked back over at Rachel.

"Rachel Curtis Jenny." Silver began. "I never even once expected anything like this. Before I thought of you as a worthy opponent. But now… I rather admire you Rachel."

"You… what?" Rachel asked looking shocked.

"When your little secret was revealed at the last tournament everyone assumed that you were a spy of some sort. But I knew better." Silver explained. "The way you fought me in the cage, the way you trained your Charizard, I could tell that none of that was an act. Nobody can fake that kind of intensity. You were fighting to prove something, and now I know what. You've been trying to set yourself apart from the rest of your family."

"And you really admire that?" Rachel asked.

"What I admire is that you're actually strong, which is more than I could say for your relatives." Silver replied. "And perhaps it's that desire to set yourself apart that makes you strong. In a way I feel like I understand you."

"You couldn't possibly understand what my life is like." Rachel said with a hint of anger in her voice.

"You're quite right, I can't imagine what it must be like to have a face that's not your own." Silver admitted. "But I do know what it's like to rebel against your family. I've been doing everything I can to defy my father's wishes."

"And just who is your dad?" Trisha asked. Silver smirked with amusement at her question.

"Either of you two ever heard of a man named Giovanni?" Silver asked them.

Suddenly Rachel had remembered just whom she thought Silver resembled. A few times going into her mother's office at her house, Rachel had noticed several surveillance photos on her mother's desk, and many of them were of the same man. A man who had slicked back hair and what Rachel considered to be bad taste in suits. And Rachel's mother had told her just whom the photos were of, perhaps for no other reason than to get her interested in police work.

"I've heard of Giovanni." Rachel finally answered. "He's suspected to be the leader of a criminal organization centered in Kanto and Johto known as Team Rocket."

"Those suspicions are correct." Silver confirmed. "And that man Giovanni… is my father."

"No way! Your dad's a crime lord?" Trisha asked looking shocked and somewhat impressed.

"That's one way to put it." Silver answered. "But I want nothing to do with my father or Team Rocket. Because the fact is they're all weaklings. My father is a weak man hiding behind an even weaker army. If he had true strength, he would face his enemies in person instead of just sending pathetic goons to do his work for him."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Rachel asked.

"I know your secret, so it seems only fair that you know mine." Silver replied.

"Okay, well what about your friend the ice queen?" Trisha asked. "Is she like your bodyguard or something?"

"Actually you're not far off." Silver answered. "When my father found out I was traveling to Sinnoh, he sent Tessa to keep an eye on me and make sure that I didn't get into trouble. But since then she has become quite loyal to me."

"Are you saying that Tessa is a member of Team Rocket?" Rachel asked looking surprised. "Doesn't she seem a little young?"

"I was found on the streets as an orphan by a member of Team Rocket and raised to become an agent." Tessa revealed. "But now my loyalties are only to Silver."

"Why is that?" Trisha asked.

"…My reasons are my own." Tessa said after a moment.

"Anyway, so now you know who we are." Silver cut in. "And now I've come to ask the both of you for your help."

"Our help?" Rachel said looking surprised.

"If I had it my way, I'd do this on my own. But the fact is I'm going to need help for what I'm planning." Silver admitted. "I have Tessa to back me up, but even she won't be enough. But I've seen both of you fight in the cage tournaments and know how strong you are. Which is why I have no doubt that you'll be able to help."

"And just what do you want our help with?" Rachel asked, looking a little suspicious.

"In this very city there's a warehouse owned by Team Rocket." Silver began to explain. "The rumors are that the warehouse contains an extremely powerful Pokemon. Now I don't know if these rumors are true, but if it is I want that Pokemon for myself."

"And what do we get out of it?" Trisha asked.

"Power." Silver said simply. "This warehouse might contain other items stolen by Team Rocket over the years. Perhaps even other Pokemon that are almost as strong as the one I'm after. That power could be yours for the taking."

"What would I want with power?" Rachel asked.

"You my dear Rachel don't just want power, you need it." Silver told her. "I know that you want to set yourself apart from all the other Jennys out there, but there's only one true way to do that. And that's to have power, the kind of power that makes the world shake at your feet. That is the only way that people will remember you as an individual."

"I never thought about it that way before." Rachel admitted.

"So how 'bout it then? Are you in?" Silver asked with an evil smirk.

"Well, it does sound like a blast." Trisha admitted. "But I'm only in if Rachel is."

"Then I guess it's up to you Rachel." Silver told her.

"…Power, huh?" Rachel replied. "Okay, I'm in too."

"Perfect. We'll do this later tonight." Silver agreed. "And after tonight, the world will remember us as the strongest Pokemon trainers of them all."

Outside the door, which had been open a crack, Hope had heard the entire conversation. She knew that Rachel had just gotten into something far worse than the cage tournaments. Hope wanted to do something, but she was afraid that if she did things might only get worse.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Apple doesn't fall far from the evil tree, does it? Admittedly, one of the purposes of this story is to set up the sequel to Best Wishes Revised, but I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Still, a few of you reading have probably figured out where this is going.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	6. Wish Upon the Moon

**Author's Note:** Sorry for not updating this story for a couple of weeks. At the time I was under a lot of stress from the holidays and life in general. Plus I felt I needed a break from Pokemon to do something different. I've been working on this project for about half a year. Anyway, this chapter focuses mainly on Hope.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Chapter 6: Wish Upon the Moon

The night had come and Hope had returned home to think. No matter how heard she tried, she couldn't figure out what to do about Rachel. One the one hand, Hope knew it was probably best that she told someone about what Rachel and Silver were planning to do, but she knew that doing so would cause Rachel to hate her even more. And Hope could not stand the thought of Rachel hating her. That was the last thing in the world that Hope wanted.

The full moon hung in the night sky as Hope went out to her backyard with Chansey to look out over the lake. She would often come out to look out over the lake when she was greatly troubled, especially on nights of a full moon.

"I just don't know what to do." Hope said to Chansey, tears still fresh in her eyes. "I know I can't let Rachel sink any lower than she has, but… I just can't bear to lose her. I wish I could help her somehow."

"Chan." Chansey replied sympathetically as she put a paw on Hope's arm.

_"Do you truly wish to protect your friend?"_ a female voice suddenly asked, surprising Hope. Hope felt as if the voice was speaking inside her own mind.

"Who's there?" Hope asked sounding a little frightened.

_"You needn't be afraid child of Joy."_ The voice told her. _"I have watched over you since the time you were born and have given you sweet dreams."_

"So… now you've come to help me?" Hope asked.

_"Let me show you what might happen if your friend continues down the path she is on now."_ The voice told her. _"Future Sight!"_ With those words the lake was enveloped in a blinding flash of blue light.

* * *

_When it cleared, Hope found herself and Chansey standing in the middle of a small town that was on fire. It looked as though they were on a simple neighborhood street. A wave of flames suddenly burst forth from the window of the house the two were standing in front of, but Hope was surprised to find that neither of them were hurt. The flames weren't even hot. Hope quickly realized that what she and Chasney were seeing wasn't real._

_Just then, walking into the small clearing that Hope and Chansey were in was Rachel. Though she looked a little older and had an eye patch instead of bandages. The outfit that Rachel was wearing consisted of a long-sleeved black shirt with a large red letter R on the front, a black skirt that ended just above the knee, knee-high black boots, elbow-high red gloves, a red vest, and a sort of black police hat with a gold brim. Hope was disturbed by the twisted grin that this older Rachel had on her face, and troubled even more by the fact that Rachel's outfit resembled that of a Team Rocket agent. Though she had to admit that the R on Rachel's uniform looked different from pictures she had seen. Rather that being a single printed letter, the R consisted of three red lines that looked as though they were painted on by a thick brush._

_Suddenly leaping out at Rachel from behind another house was a large lion-like creature with brown fur and a cream-colored underside. It had large white paws and two spiked grey plates on the side of its back. Between these two plates was something that looked like a cape of grey smoke. The creature's face was mask-like with a three-pointed yellow plate on its forehead, red plates on the sides, and a white mustache-like plate on the front of its snout._

_"That's an Entei." Hope realized._

_Only seconds after Entei appeared came a young woman with long raven hair and green eyes. She wore a red t-shirt with a denim vest and shorts. The young woman stood next to Entei and glared at Rachel. Rachel merely laughed at the raven-haired woman and threw out a Pokeball with a black top and blue underside. Emerging from the ball was a large bird with wings that seemed to be made out of fire._

_Just as this bird was about to fight Entei, another Pokemon suddenly appeared and flew in front of Entei. It had a black shadowy body that had an hourglass shape and looked almost as if it was made of rags. The creature had a head of white hair that looked like a billowing white flame and left but a single light-blue eye visible. Around its neck was a red growth that looked like a necklace of large red beads. Suddenly Hope noticed that another person had come and was standing next to the raven-haired woman. It was another young woman with very fair skin, shoulder-length blonde hair, and violet eyes. The blonde was wearing a sleeveless black shirt and pants._

_"Dark Void!" the blonde commanded._

_The shadowy Pokemon raised its arms up, and between its arms formed a large ball of black energy. It then hurled the ball at Rachel and the bird, which split into two and enveloped the both of them. Hope attempted to run to Rachel's side, but suddenly there came another blinding flash of blue light._

* * *

When the light cleared, Hope and Chansey found themselves back at the lake as if nothing had happened. Hope knew that what she just saw was an illusion, but to her it felt very real.

_"What you just saw was but one possible future."_ The voice from before said to Hope. _"The creature that came to the aid of Entei was a Darkrai, a creature that causes endless nightmares to those around it. Its kind and mine have been enemies for as far back as any living being can remember."_

The voice's words suddenly made Hope remember the warning of the old homeless man that had died before her only a few nights ago. She recalled that the old man had said something about a false prisoner in league with a lord of nightmares and a fiery rider chosen by a lion of flames, and that both Hope and Rachel should beware of them. And the more Hope thought about it, the quicker she realized that the lord of nightmares and lion of fire that the old man spoke of could've been referring to Darkrai and Entei. It all seemed to match up with Hope's vision, and the similarities made Hope shudder.

"So… what does all this mean?" Hope asked the voice. "What am I supposed to do to stop what I saw from happening?"

_"There may be very little."_ The voice said gravely. _"It seems that there might be greater forces at work in all of this. At the very least however I can help you protect your friend from the power of Darkrai. But first I'm afraid you must prove yourself."_

"What do you mean?" Hope asked sounding desperate.

_"Though I dislike fighting as much as you do, I am afraid there is but one way for me to become your partner."_ The voice told her. _"You must fight me, child of Joy."_

Just then a light suddenly zoomed out from the shine in the middle of the lake. Seconds later hovering before Hope and Chansey was a swan-like creature with blue body and a gold face and underside. On the sides of it head were two golden ornaments that looked like crescent moons. Its glowing pink wings resembled the rings of a planet, having two on its sides and a third on its back that looked as though it was meant to serve as a form of propulsion.

"You're a… Cresselia." Hope realized with an expression of awe. "Alright then, I think I know what I have to do now. Chansey, attack Cresselia with Return!"

Chansey began to glow with a bright pink light, and in an instant she leapt forward and punched Cresselia in her jaw. The lunar swan was hurled back over the water of the lake, but she quickly zoomed back and fired a beam of multicolored light from her forehead that resembled an aurora. The beam hit Chansey in the chest but seemed to do very little damage. Just then, Chasey began to glow with a white light and change in shape slightly. When the light cleared, the top half of Chansey's body was pink, while the bottom half had become white. The hair-like growths at the sides of her head had curled, and what looked like white feathers had sprouted around Chansey's midsection. Her tail had disappeared and around her shoulders had grown white wing-like ornaments.

"You evolved into Blissey?" a surprised Hope said to her Pokemon. "Okay then, use Egg Bomb!"

As Cresselia continued her approach, Blissey pulled out the white egg from the pouch in her stomach. A new egg appeared in its place within seconds. Blissey threw the egg at Cresselia like a grenade. The egg came near the lunar swan and exploded in a flash of yellow light. Cresselia was knocked off course and almost crashed when she came to the shore. But the swan recovered and turned to face Blissey.

Cresselia's eyes glowed with a blue light and suddenly Blissey was lifted into the air as if being pulled up by an unseen force. Only a second later Blissey was slammed back to the ground very hard. But the egg Pokemon soon got back to her feet and stood defiantly against the swan.

"Recover with Softboiled!" Hope commanded. Blissey glowed briefly with a golden light and in an instant all the damage she had taken before seemed to fade. "Now use Return again!"

Blissey once again glowed with a bright pink light, and she charged at Cresselia and delivered another powerful punch. The punch sent Cresselia back almost twelve feet, causing the lunar swan to spin as she did do. After the attack, Cresselia seemed to be having trouble staying afloat. Seeing that Cresselia had taken a good deal of damage, Hope decided to take a chance and threw out an empty Pokeball. The ball hit the swan on her beak and sucked her inside. Both Hope and Blissey watched the ball closely as it jiggled on the ground, but eventually the ball stopped moving and made the sound that signaled that the capture was complete.

"Thank goodness." Hope said as she walked over and picked the ball up. She then threw the ball to send Cresselia back out. The lunar swan wobbled a bit as she hovered before Hope. "Blissey, use Softboiled to heal Cresselia's injuries."

The egg in Blissey's pouch began to glow with a gold light. Blissey removed the egg, which was quickly replaced by another one. She then threw the glowing egg at Cresselia. The egg burst and Cresselia glowed with a golden light, and when the light faded much of the damage the lunar swan had taken had vanished.

_"You have done well, child of Joy."_ Cresselia said to Hope. _"Together we might be able to protect your friend."_

"But where do we go from here?" Hope asked. "How do I keep the vision you showed me from happening?"

_"That is up to you now."_ Cresselia replied. _"Let your heart be your guide. But I warn you that you may not be able to prevent all that I have foreseen. At most we can fight Darkrai, but as for preventing the battle from even happening, it may already be too late."_

"I see…" Hope said sadly. "But… we can still try, can't we? If there's still a chance we can stop that battle from happening we have to take it."

_"The choice is yours, child of Joy."_ Cresselia told her. _"Whatever you decide, we shall do it together."_

"Alright then…" Hope said with a determined expression. "Let's go find Rachel."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I hope that I haven't been going overboard with the foreshadowing in this story. Though those reading who're familiar with my other Pokemon stories might've already guessed where all this is going. Or at the very least know who the two OCs from Hope's vision were. Before anyone asks, the Cresselia from this story is a different one from the Cresselia that appeared in my other story, _Half Moon Bay_ (it has to be, since _Half Moon Bay_ is set years after this story). This Cresselia can speak with telepathy, though whether or not she'll have lines beyond this chapter, I haven't decided yet.

Please review and let me know what you think. And Happy New Year.


	7. XD001

**Author's Note:** Sorry for not updating this story for a few weeks. I once again felt like I needed to step away from it again. But we're actually getting closer to the end, so I've decided to go ahead and start wrapping things up.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Chapter 7: XD001

The moon hung high above as Rachel, Silver, Trisha, and Tessa came upon the warehouse that according to Silver was under the ownership of Team Rocket. With Silver's help it had been an easy matter for Rachel to sneak out of the hospital. After that, all that was needed was for Trisha to loan her a few clothes and wait for nightfall. The warehouse did not look as if the warehouse had any guards protecting it, but then Rachel did not think that it would. Especially if it did contain a powerful Pokemon like Silver said it did.

"Tessa and I already know the layout of this place." Silver informed Rachel and Trisha. "Just follow our lead and you should be fine."

"And if we don't?" Trisha asked.

"Most likely you will be captured by Team Rocket." Tessa said rather indifferently.

"And that's something you like to happen." Silver continued.

"We get the picture. Let's just do this." Rachel said a little impatiently.

"What's the matter, nervous?" Silver asked with an amused smirk.

"I'm fine." Rachel replied, though she had to admit that a part of her was anxious about their mission.

"Okay then." Silver responded, letting the matter drop. "Let's go!"

In moments the would-be robbers had reached the door of the building. The door to the structure had an electric lock with a keypad, but Tessa had managed to hack the combination using special gear she had brought with in a small black bag. With the door open, the group entered the warehouse. The interior looked to be that of an ordinary warehouse, stacked almost to the roof with wooden and cardboard boxes filled with various items. But upon reaching one of the large wooden crates, Tessa opened up the side of it to reveal a hidden door protected by another electric lock.

After Tessa hacked the second lock, the door opened up to reveal a staircase descending down into a hidden basement. The four went down the stairs and found themselves inside a maze of steel-walled corridors. They went straight ahead for a few steps and then went to the right. After a few more turns, Silver and Tessa led Rachel and Trisha to a hallway leading to another door. Just as before, the door had an electronic lock that Tessa had to hack through. It was taking longer than the last two times for Tessa to hack the combination, and the whole time Rachel was nervous that someone would come along and catch them. But after what seemed like five minutes, the lock finally yielded, and the metal door slid open to allow the four access to the room on the other side.

The room that Rachel and the others entered was dark and filled with pieces of mechanical and scientific equipment that one might normally find in a laboratory. In the center of this room was a sort of metal canister with a glass dome on top filled with a thick white mist. Silver went over to the canister, and after finding and pressing a button on the side near the top, caused the dome on top to retract and the mist to escape. When the mist cleared, the four saw sitting in four circular groves in the top of the metal cylinder four Pokeballs with black tops. Inscribed in silver letters above the front button of the center Pokeball were two letters and three numbers, XD001.

"Wait, so there are four Pokemon being kept here?" Rachel asked.

"Cool, one for each of us." Trisha observed. "Let's grab these things and get the hell out."

"Not so fast." Silver said with a raise of his hand. "I want to know just what we have here. For all we know, these could just be empty Pokeballs. Tessa, see if you can find out anything."

"Yes sir." Tessa said as she went over to a computer inside the room. After firing up the machine and typing a few things on the keyboard, Tessa brought up a file on the screen. "I have something. According to what I've found, these Pokemon are the product of something called Project Shadow."

"Well, it's a cool name." Trisha commented. "But what the hell is it?"

"Apparently a few years ago, Team Rocket had stolen a piece of technology from an organization called Sipher. According to the file, this technology had the capability to change a normal Pokemon into an emotionless fighting machine with attacks capable of defeating any element type. The Pokemon altered by this process were called Shadow Pokemon."

"It seems that I've finally found just what I've been looking for." Silver said with a sinister grin. "Go on Tessa."

"The technology was at first adapted by Team Rocket to create a special type of Pokeball, which was tested out by an agent known as the Iron Masked Marauder." Tessa continued. "However, it was discovered that Pokemon altered by this process could be returned to their original states through certain methods. So Team Rocket decided to try and create Shadow Pokemon immune to purification. They enlisted the services of a scientist known as Dr. Marlon Shade, who had apparently studies under a specialist in cloning known as Dr. Fuji. The idea was to see if converting a Pokemon early in life to a Shadow Pokemon immune to purification.

"In the first phase of the experiment, Dr. Shade produced clones of three Legendary Pokemon, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, and transformed them into Shadow Pokemon right after their birth. But Dr. Shade found that there was still a chance of purification in the Pokemon he created. So he began the second phase of the experiment, which was to transform a Pokemon during the embryonic stage of its development. Using the DNA of another Legendary Pokemon, Lugia, Dr. Shade finally succeeded in creating a Shadow Pokemon incapable of being purified. The result was designated XD001, Shadow Lugia."

"Well, it looks like Team Rocket has finally done something right." Silver commented as he looked back over at the four Pokeballs.

"Hold up, something doesn't feel right." Rachel cut in. "If Team Rocket created such a powerful Pokemon, why did they stick the thing in here to gather dust?"

"According to the file, Team Rocket could not control Shadow Lugia, or the three other prototypes." Tessa read from the computer. "The Pokemon would either turn against their trainers, or the shadow force emanating from them would drive the trainers insane. Giovanni himself decided that the project was too dangerous and had it permanently shelved."

"That sounds like something my father would do." Silver scoffed. "He finally gets his hands on the most powerful Pokemon in existence and then is afraid to use it."

"Yeah, but these Pokemon do sound dangerous." Trisha pointed out. "I mean they either went psycho on their trainers or drove them nuts."

"That's because these Pokemon had only weaklings from Team Rocket using them." Silver argued. "I believe that the four of us are much stronger. I know I certainly am, and I'll prove that right now."

With that, Silver grabbed on to the XD001 Pokeball, but as soon as he did a black energy began to crackle from the ball. Silver convulsed as he held on, causing Tessa to stand up from the chair she was using to read the computer. The white-haired girl's face showed actual concern. After a moment though, the phenomenon stopped, and Silver lifted the ball from its container. He laughed madly as he held the ball in his hand.

"Yes!" Silver cried out. "It seems that this Pokemon has chosen me as its master, just as I knew it would."

"You sure you're okay man?" Trisha asked.

"I'm more than okay." Silver told her. "I feel as if I've become unstoppable! Go on you three, see if you are worthy of wielding these Pokemon."

Hesitantly, Tessa walked over to the metal alter. She grabbed onto the black Pokeball that read, SB01. Suddenly a black energy crackled from the ball and Tessa began to shiver as if she were out in the cold. Both Rachel and Trisha could see Tessa's breath as if she were outside on a cold winter day. A moment later though, Tessa stopped shivering and picked up the ball.

"How are you feeling Tessa?" a concerned Rachel asked.

"I am fine." Tessa flatly replied.

"Which of you shall be next?" Silver asked.

"…Oh, hell with it." Trisha said as she walked over to the metal alter and grabbed the ball that read, SB02.

Upon grabbing the ball, Trisha cried out in pain and convulsed as if she had grabbed onto a live power cable. Just as it was with Tessa and Silver though, the convulsions passed and Trisha stood there catching her breath as she picked up the ball.

"Trish, are you okay?" a very concerned Rachel asked as she rushed over.

"Oh man! What a rush!" Trisha laughed. As she did, Rachel noticed a sort of crazed look in her eyes. "You just gotta try this Rachel."

"I don't know…" Rachel said with a look of hesitation.

"Hey, don't wuss out on us now!" Trisha told her. "C'mon, there's still one of these Pokemon left."

Rachel looked at the remaining Pokeball, which was marked, SB03. Slowly she reached for the ball, backing her hand away quickly at one point. But after a moment she finally grabbed onto it. Upon touching the ball though, Rachel suddenly felt as if her entire body was on fire. The pain was simply incredible, yet there was something inside her telling her not to let go. After a few moments though the pain finally ended, and when it did Rachel felt somehow energized in a way she had never been before.

"Well done." Silver praised as Rachel picked up the ball. "You've proven that you're stronger than the rest of your family." Before Rachel could respond, the room was filled by the noise of an alarm and a red light over the doorway began to flash.

"Crap! Looks like we've been found out!" Trisha observed.

"Everyone out now!" Silver ordered. "Back the way we came!"

With their new Pokemon in hand, the four rushed out of the room and flew through the corridors back the route they came. They soon found their way back to the staircase that led to the actual warehouse. But when they reached the top the four found eleven Team Rocket agents waiting for them.

"Well, well, it looks like we found ourselves some rats." Said a muscular male Team Rocket agent at the front of the hoard who seemed to be the leader. "I don't know how you kids managed to get into our underground base, but you picked the wrong warehouse to snoop around."

"All of you weaklings better get out of our way." Silver warned.

"Or what kid? You'll tell your mommy on us?" the lead Rocket agent laughed.

"Tessa, attack!" Silver ordered.

"As you wish sir." Tessa said as she prepared to throw her black Pokeball. "Go… Articuno!"

Emerging from the thrown ball was a large blue bird with dazzling wings and a white chest and stomach. The bird had long beautiful tail feathers and a three-pointed crest on its forehead. Its beak was short and its eyes were pitch black. Many of the Team Rocket agents backed away in fear upon seeing the legendary bird of ice.

"Hey, save some for me!" Trisha said as she threw her own black ball. "Come out Zapdos!"

The bird that emerged from Trisha's Pokeball was large and had yellow jagged feathers. The thunderbird had a long pointed beak like a drill and its eyes were pitch black like Articuno's.

"I guess I'll fight too. Go Moltres!" Rachel called out as she threw out her own ball.

Coming out of Rachel's Pokeball was another large bird, one with a relatively long beak and was mostly cream-colored. Its wings and tail feathers were covered in red flames and it had a plume of fire atop its head. Just like the other two legendary birds, Moltres' eyes were pitch black.

"Arise… Shadow Lugia!" Silver called out as he threw his own Pokeball.

The creature that burst out of the ball was larger than the three birds and looked like a cross between a bird and a dragon. It was mostly black with a blue-grey stomach. The feathers on the end of the creature's wings looked almost like fingers. Around each of its red eyes was a jagged blue-grey spike, and it had two rows of blue-grey spines running down its back.

"What the hell?" the lead Rocket agent exclaimed as he backed away in fear.

"Shadow Chill." Tessa commanded.

Articuno reared back its head and spewed from its beak a storm of black ice crystals at the Team Rocket agents. The agents ran away from the attack, barely managing to avoid being frozen.

"Use Shadow Bolt!" Trisha ordered.

Zapdos cried out and began firing bolts of black electricity from its body. The blasts hit all over the warehouse and destroyed most of the crates inside. Already some of the Team Rocket members had fled the building.

"Shadow Fire!" Rachel commanded.

Moltres sent forth an inferno of black flames from its beak. Somehow the Team Rocket members had managed to avoid the blast, but much of the warehouse was set ablaze.

"Annihilate them!" Silver ordered. "Shadow Blast!"

Upon his command, Shadow Lugia reared back its head and fired a concentrated blast of vacuum-packed air from its mouth. The entire front of the warehouse was blown away and the fleeing Team Rocket members were knocked unconscious. With their attack over, the four called the Shadow Pokemon back to their balls and began to walk out of the burning building.

"That was… awesome!" Trisha declared. "I don't think I've ever felt so alive!"

"I feel the same way." Silver agreed. "These Shadow Pokemon have given us ultimate power."

"How're you feeling Rachel?" Trisha asked.

"I feel… I feel like I can do anything right now." Rachel answered. "So what do we do?"

"Anything we want." Silver replied. "We can make this world ours, crush Team Rocket and anyone who would stand in our way. You can finally set yourself apart from the rest of your flawed family. People would remember you for the power you have and not by a face that isn't yours."

"Yeah… I could do that, couldn't I?" Rachel realized. "I wouldn't be just another Officer Jenny. It's what I've always wanted."

"No it isn't Rachel!" a voice suddenly cried out. The four turned to see Hope standing nearby. "You have to stop now!"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Rachel demanded to know. "Get lost!"

"No I won't!" Hope told her. "I've come to stop you from making a horrible mistake!"

"You just can't stand me trying to do anything that'll set me apart from the rest of my flawed family, can you?" Rachel shot back. "Well you won't be ruining things for me this time! Now get lost… or I'll burn you to a crisp!"

"…I see… so that's how it is now, is it Rachel?" Hope said as tears came to her eyes. "Well then if that's the way it has to be, then fine! I'll fight you if that's what it takes to stop you!" With that, Hope reached for her belt and grabbed a Pokeball. "Go… Cresselia!"

The lunar Pokemon emerged from Hope's thrown ball and hovered before Rachel and the others. Rachel was to say the least surprised to see that Hope had captured a Legendary Pokemon of her own. Silver meanwhile looked on with a raised eyebrow.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Rachel exclaimed.

"I'm going to do whatever it takes to save you Rachel!" Hope declared. "Even if that means I have to fight you myself!"

* * *

**Author's Note:** Those of you reading who are familiar with my other Pokemon stories probably know where this is sort of leading. The next chapter's the battle between Rachel and Hope. You can probably guess how it's going to go down.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	8. Burn the World

**Author's Note:** I guess this chapter is more of an epilogue, at least it would be were it not for the battle coming up. But we have reached the end of this little story. Or at least this part of it. There will be a sequel coming, that much I can say.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Chapter 8: Burn the World

Things had taken a rather odd turn for Rachel. Only minutes ago, she along with Trisha, Tessa, and Silver, had gained powerful Shadow Pokemon from a secret Team Rocket base, and just as they were attempting to leave Hope had shown up with a Cresselia. What was even more unexpected was that Hope had challenged Rachel to a battle. Of course Rachel had no problem with battling Hope. After obtaining Moltres, Rachel felt like she could take on the world.

"Let me get this straight." Rachel said to Hope as an amused and somewhat crazed smile came to her face. "You're challenging me to a battle?"

"You're not leaving me any choice Rachel." Hope told her.

"Okay, I'll play along." Rachel replied as she tried to contain her laughter. "What happens if I lose?"

"Then you come home with me." Hope answered. "You need help Rachel, now more than ever."

"What, you're saying I'm nuts?" Rachel asked. "I guess you would think that since I don't act like a normal Jenny."

"Look at what you've done so far Rachel. You've gouged out your own eye and took part in a robbery that injured several people." Hope pointed out. "You're not well."

"Oh please, those people that got hurt were all with Team Rocket. They had it coming." Rachel retorted. "And I think it should be obvious why I took out my own eye."

"But Rachel…" Hope attempted to argue.

"Enough! I'm through talking with you! If you wanna battle, you've got one. Go Moltres!" Rachel called out as she threw her black Pokeball. The bird of fire burst forth from the thrown ball and hovered in the air before Hope and Cresselia. "Attack with Shadow Rush!"

Moltres began to glow with a strange black aura. The firebird flew at incredible speed at rammed into Cresselia. The lunar swan was forced back ten feet but managed to recover.

"Shadow Rush? I've never heard of that attack before." Hope told Rachel.

"Neither have I before tonight. But somehow I just seem to know all of Moltres' attacks." Rachel revealed. "Here's another one. Use Shadow Fire!"

"Quick Cresselia, dodge and use Safeguard!" Hope ordered.

Moltres breathed out a stream of black flames at Cresselia, but the lunar swan managed to fly out of the way only moments before the attack hit. Once safely out of range, Cesselia began to glow with a soft blue light.

"That's pretty weak!" Rachel taunted. "Use Shadow Shed!"

Moltres once again began to glow with a black aura. With a flap of its wings, Moltres sent a wave of black energy at Cresselia. Upon being hit by the wave, the blue light that had begun to shine from Cresselia shattered like glass.

"Wha... what just happened?" Hope asked.

"Shadow Shed removed barriers like Safguard from enemy Pokemon." Rachel explained. "Now Moltres, finish this with Shadow Fire!"

Upon command, Moltres flew at Cresselia at top speed. When the firebird got in close range it reared back its head and let loose another blast of black flames at the lunar swan. Cresselia was hit, and after spinning through the air she crashed hard into the ground. Hope immediately ran over to Cresselia's side to find her out cold.

"There, I won." Rachel declared after calling Moltres back to its ball. "Now get lost!"

"…No." Hope said after calling Cresselia back to her ball.

"Were you not watching what happened in that battle?" Rachel yelled. "Leave!"

"No I won't." Hope said defiantly as she turned to face Rachel. "I… want to stay with you. I won't try and force you to come back anymore. I'll do whatever you say."

"Say what?" Rachel asked with a raised eyebrow.

With that, Hope reached into the inner pocket of the pink jacket she was wearing and pulled out a small knife. Using the knife, Rachel cut off her two ring-like pigtails.

"All I want if to make sure that you're safe." Hope said after pocketing her knife. "You're one of my dearest friends Rachel, and if I can't bring you back to my world then I'll follow you into yours. I'm willing to walk this path with you Rachel."

"How interesting." Silver said as he walked up from where he, Tessa, and Trisha were all watching the battle. "Hope, wasn't it? That Cresselia of yours doesn't seem all that powerful, but she could prove useful. I guess I'm willing to let you join our little club, but the choice is Rachel's. I'll let her decide."

"…You said you'd do whatever I said, right?" Rachel asked Hope after a brief pause.

"I swear I will." Hope replied. Suddenly Rachel span around and gave Hope a hard kick to the stomach, causing Hope to fall to the ground coughing. "Get up. We're leaving."

"Where… are we going?" Hope coughed out as she slowly got back to her feet.

"How the hell should I know?" Rachel said as she began walking off with Silver and the others. "Just get moving."

With that, Hope quickly caught up to Rachel and the others as they walked off. After walking for what seemed like an hour, the gang came to a bus stop on the outskirts of the city. Deciding that they needed a break, the gang went over to the bench by the stop to rest.

"You know as much as I hate to admit it, Plain Jane Joy asked a good question." Trisha spoke as she sat down on the bench next to Rachel. "Where the hell are we going?"

"Well we sure as hell can't go home." Rachel commented. "Not that I want to go back there. You have any ideas Silver?"

"That is a good question." Silver replied. "I guess I didn't really think that far ahead."

"Um, we could try challenging some gyms." Hope suggested. "Maybe enter the Pokemon League."

"No one asked you!" Rachel snapped.

"S-sorry." Hope quickly replied.

"Well this is sure a funny sight." A female voice suddenly commented. The gang looked across the street to see standing under a streetlight a woman wearing a hooded brown coat, making it impossible to see her face. "A bunch of kids gain some of the most powerful Pokemon on the planet and have no clue what to do with them."

"Who are you?" Silver demanded to know.

"Someone who just happened to be in the neighborhood when you grabbed those Pokemon from the Rocket warehouse." The hooded woman said as she walked up to the gang. "I was actually planning to steal them for myself, maybe make some cash. But it seems like you punks seem to be able to use them way better than I could ever hope to do. So I've decided to help you guys."

"Help us with what?" Trisha asked.

"Help you decide what to do with all that power." The hooded woman answered. "And I have the perfect suggestion, why not make this world yours?"

"Go on." Silver said with a look of intrigue.

"You're the son of Giovanni, the boss of Team Rocket, right?" the hooded woman continued. "With the power you now have, you can give your dad the boot and take over Team Rocket for yourself."

"I have no interest in running that army of weaklings!" Silver told her almost shouting.

"Yikes, okay! Well then if you don't like the Team Rocket your dad runs, make a new one for yourself." The hooded woman suggested. "One that's in your image. You may have one of the strongest Pokemon of them all, but every great ruler needs an army. Someone to make sure that his law is enforced. Someone to do the dirty work, like getting coffee in the morning. I can help you put together such an army, though it will take time."

"And what do you get out of helping us?" Trisha asked as she gave to hooded woman a suspicious eye.

"Me? I'm just a girl who's been wondering Sinnoh for the last two years trying to figure out what to do with her life." The hooded woman answered. "Before that I was someone who faithfully served a man who wanted to change the world. Then some brat kid with a Pikachu and his girlfriend came along and ruined it all. The world you five would probably make probably wouldn't be like the one Cyrus envisioned but chances are it'd be a hell of a lot better than this one, and I'd like to help make it happen. Just consider me your advisor."

"Interesting. And we're supposed to trust you?" a suspicious Silver asked.

"It's your call." The hooded woman said with a shrug. "I could get lost if you wanted me to, but you guys could do a lot more with my help."

"Let's take her on Silver." Rachel suddenly spoke a cold tone. "I don't know about this idea about creating a new world, but I want to burn this world to the ground. This world and everything in it."

"Rachel…" Hope quietly said with a worried expression.

"You said it yourself when you asked me to start this thing with you Silver that the only way for this world to remember me is to have the power that makes the world shake at its feet." Rachel continued as she stood up from the wooden bench. "I have that power now, we all do. Now we should use it to make the world ours."

"I do like the idea of making this world ours." Silver admitted. "And it does sound like a way to outdo my father. I think I can guess Ms. Hope's reaction, but what say the rest of you?"

"Hell, I'm in." Trisha agreed. "Sounds like a fun ride."

"How 'bout you Tessa?" Silver asked.

"I shall do whatever you wish, Silver." Tessa replied.

"Very well then." Silver said before turning back to the hooded woman. "We accept your offer. But I would like to know what your name is if you're to be working for us."

"Of course." The woman said as she removed her hood, revealing that she had oddly shaped bright red hair. "My name is Mars, and before this I was a member of Team Galactic. It's a pleasure to be working with you, Lord Silver."

FIN

* * *

**Author's Note:** So that ends this tale of a young would-be Officer Jenny trying to find a way to escape her destiny. But Rachel, Hope, Trisha, Tessa, and Silver will all be back. For now though, I'll be continuing on _Best Wishes Revised_. And I may do another Pokemon story here in a few months. Once Best Wishes Revised is done though, the epic battle that's it's all been leading up to shall begin.

Keep your eyes opened for this sequel to this story and _Best Wishes Revised_: **Reign of Silver**

In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think.


End file.
